There you are!
Anybody has any remark?
I don't understand "fearing" words or this PC thing.
Once I was on the mental institution and a man asked me:
"-Are you a psychologist?"
I've look at him and said smiling. "-Nope! I'm also crazy!"
He smiled at me and we started a good chat. Everytime I go there we talk.
Down here the term "neurotic" that back in the eighties was used to explain "social relationships" that were not good; politics that are not "normal"... everything was "neurotic".
We had "urban neurosis" and every individual was considered neurotic in a way.
On the beginning of this century following what was created on the nighties... things are schizophrenics.
The economy, the politics, family relationships... name it... everything is schizophrenic.
It became an adjective to express anomie and other stuffs.
In the movie "Interromped Girl" there's a scene where the Angelina Jolie's character asks for all the things that can be put in an ice-cream: she asks for cerises; chocolate.. blah blah and does not say one of the ingredients. So the bartender says: "-Nuts?" she starts laughing as well as all her friends who were on that mental institution.
But these people who are "correcting" words and stuff doesn't give a damn for grammar, semantics...
you just want to... pentelhar.
There! Here is a Portuguese slang verb meaning upset, annoy, mock, fuss... you understood.
It's appalling that Philip had to write a post like this.
It only shows that those who are desperate to contradict what the vast majority of people in this blog believe has NO sufficient good arguments .
So you behave like a troll and create problems that doesn't exist. The statistics evidence:
it's funny! according to the methodology you can have the result you want!
It just happened here. The explanation why some people are now considered "middle class" was statistically analised in two ways that contradict each other.
And this is a subject that should be considered exact!
Grow up!

Ignore the twits. It's worth having a discussion about the use of language, but this is not the most appropriate forum for it. I'm sorry to hear you've been getting harassed by people who prefer to nitpick and split hairs, rather than move forward - or at the very least be grateful for your efforts on this site. Goodness knows I am. So thank you, and again, ignore the twits.

Have fun, you've earned it. Hopefully you won't even see this post until sometime next week!

When I was 20, I too would have complained about "manning" a phone and then talked all night about my comment with my friends who were also studying herstory. These days I've got bigger fish to fry, but the kid does make a valid point.

The problem is figuring out how to make such points while still communicating. PC language can sometimes lead to the callousness of what I think of as the "to sir with love" syndrome. That was the movie where the teacher gets the smitten teenager's love letter and corrects the grammar, humiliating the kid into suicide while never seeing the point of the letter. You're a good writer Philip. It would be impossible to write about "mental" illness without inciting the ire of someone.

That said, there's a difference in using language directly to harm and what goes on in the psych world. The language of the dsm and the media language used about the "mentally" ill has a lot to do with the evil idea that you have to harm the "mentally" ill to help us. If we harm you, we're sick, if you harm us, you're being nice.

I prefer to describe people who think or have it thought of them that they have "bipolar disorder or schizophrenia" as labeled as having "bipolar disorder" using the scare quotes because that kind of thinking really is scary, just putting scare quotes around those terms does more to help remove stigma from people labeled as mentally ill than 200 years of protests.

As for "sociopath," I would prefer you use "evil, remorseless motherfucker?" Evil, remorseless motherfuckers exist. Describing evil remorseless, motherfuckers as sick really does harm people who for some reason either find their own psych labels helpful or have no control over the psych label thrust upon them. Whatever anyone may think about psychiatry, when evil behavior is described as sick, people who are labeled as "mentally" sick are viewed as evil. A case in point would be the Cho thing. The evil, remorseless motherfucker was given the label "social anxiety disorder." Now kids with that label can't go to college. To suggest that his "sad" caused him to kill, is like suggesting that because he's Korean, he's evil. It would be unpc to do so because society has to some extent improved in dealing with racist language, people who speak out here are trying to do the some thing for "the mentally ill."

Again, have a good trip.

Oh Cripes. I am so sorry.

Dog Days of summer, everyone is on tenterhooks.

When I taught Freshman Comp, I used Hayakawa . He had a whole thing on the word "Chair" Write it on the black board , and ask students to describe it on a piece of paper.

You would get rocking, blue, Laz y boy, Eames, kitchen, electric, etc. No one would ever duplicate.

Such is the beauty and the terror of the English language.

Philip, you have a gift for writing and I am sorry if this has caused you any consternation.

Enjoy your mini vacation.

You can't win can you?

I remember once, I wrote a newsletter for the parents of a kids football team I used to help coach.

I wrote that we were having a meeting and for moms and dads to turn up.

A week or so later I was stopped by one of the parents and told I was insensitive because she was divorced!

Go figure?

Phil, if they don't like it then FUCK EM!

Fid

Words and language are still our most powerful form of communication yet all this "political correctness" nonsense drowns out the importance of what language and words actually do, which is ... to enable us to express our thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Words are indeed powerful and choice of word can change whole contexts and opinions , inflame whole cultures and even start wars.
They are hugely important and psychiatry , the media and governments have been using words and language as weapons for a long time. All this political correctness stuff is just a form of censorship , give me a "balls on the table, no holds barred" conversation any day of the week.

You are a great writer Philip, and you have a great command of language, don't let a few idiots stop you from what you do best!

As we say where I am from , "fuck the begrudgers" ...

:) :) :)

This is a non PC rant that will surely offend someone, and I don't care.

As long as this discussion is continuing want my opinion? I get hate emails all of the time as a blog author, you cannot always please everyone all of the time.

I find it weird, yes I do! that people freaked out about the "mans a suicide hotline" thing. God get a life!

Call me non-PC or a whiny bitch (that's what some of my hate emails call me besides a fucking murderer, anti med Nazi, you name it).

Keep up the good work here Philip, you are the award winning journalist the commenters are NOT.

Philip,

Write what you want to write the way that you want to.

I have seen the overly sensitive touchy feeling PC censure here and personally I have little patience for making other people feel good about words.

There are so many more things to get upset about in this world if you are looking to get upset at something.

Some folks just need to step back and get a grip.

I don't know where people pick that up. I don't know if it is a humanities course thing or what.

Don't let it stop it, as you said, you have no control over the use of language in our culture

Frankly I do not believe in nor do I like labels like SZ, BiPD, BP, ODD, etc,

We do need some kind of common convention to discuss mental health symptoms and the mean old labels do a bit more to fulfill a descriptive role than the labels 'disturbed', 'insane', 'bat shit crazy' and 'off their rocker'

Then again, I am not PC myself, so I might just refer to someone as bat shit crazy regardless of their *official diagnostic label*

Let them grow a thicker skin Philip and focus on what is really important in mental health journalism.

For those people who don't like what is written here, I have a crazy idea, don't come to the site. I know this may seem like an odd request but I see it as the same logical as watching TV. If you don't like what you are seeing, change the channel. If you don't like what you are reading, skip the blog. Very complicated thinking here. Sorry you have to deal with this nonsense Philip, enjoy your vacation.

I live in Berkeley, and it has to be the most notorious place for PC. I think anything can be taken too far. I have more tolerance for language semantics corrections than other issues, unless I feel the person correcting me is doing it out of some other motive, hostility, jealousy, just-plain-meanness, etc. I guess if I were a journalist I would be more affronted. I think if I got affronted every time someone "corrected" me, well, god knows what I'd do. I haven't heard any of my English teachers or professors encourage PC language usage. One of them actually said she would rather we be sexist than use incorrect english. In regards to the term "sociopath," one of my parenting class teachers said that if babies don't get enough affection, they grow up to be sociopathic, meaning they don't have the ability to care about other people or have sympathy or regret for causing pain to other people. I immediately thought of an ex-boyfriend I had had...

ah berkeley, my lovely alma mater. ah berkeley, the city where housing discrimination is based on food choices and whether or not you are fragrance free. ah berkeley was once such a fun place but got over run by the uptight crowd who now even go after the homeless. for smoking of course.

god i don't miss berkeley

Philip, I see your response as a STFU, however longwinded. How pc of you to go such lengths to respond to the criticism.

You're a good guy and a great writer.

My motto is "fuck the haters". Not literally, of course. But, now that I think about it... that could work.

"finding some nice new PC terms to use in place of various disorders really would do zero to change the social and clinical reality many of us face"

As a 40-year veteran Consumer (love that word, why is it better than patient? Oh, I digress).

Amen, Philip. Please just keep writing as you do! Don't change your voice or waste your precious energy and talent on that PC crap. Personual labor and person hole covers are next, I am sure.

hah Deborah! "person hole covers" ...just like the last 3 days sitting in construction while road paving was going on the bright orange signs read "men at work" and EVERY STEAM ROLLER was "manned" by a woman!

I hope you have a lovely weekend phillip...
thank you for what you do here....you are the best!
bizi

Philip,

Go on vacation already!

Deborah, You're right that Philip's writing is more than okay the way it is. We are splitting hairs here, and this time it feels like my fur.

I think the whole psychiatric problem is largely if not mainly about language, about classification.

When a person without a psych label is passionate, it's a regarded as a good thing, when someone labeled bipolar is passionate, it's mania. It's not that what the two people are doing is different, it's how it's labeled.

When the word schizophrenia (or any other dsm label) is written in a medical chart to describe someone, their/my whole life changes, their liberty is simply taken away. The harm is caused by the word, a word that denotes all sorts of horrible things and implies some sort of diagnostic tests that do not exist. If the pshrink swings the other way and doesn't label but instead writes mental exhaustion, no problem (well except that insurance won't cover the costs).

Changing language, like any other change, sometimes has unexpected results. Your example of consumer instead of patient is a perfect example. I'm not sure how the label consumer was supposed to help patients. If I go to a doctor, I'm his patient. There's a certain amount of sympathy built into being classified as a patient. Patients are allowed to go to the doctor whether they have money or not because we/they are sick.

The term consumers on the other hand implies a selfish entitlement mentality which does play into the entire biopsych idea that mental health consumers are born so unreasonable they/we are not entitled to civil rights, that anytime we look for help with our distress we are selfish, destructive miscreants who must be managed not sympathized with or assisted, and should pay for the privilege of being managed, i.e. tortured. (see Bipolar Bunny's excellent post related to this under the susieQ and abuse thread).

Yet I would imagine the term was developed by decent, well intentioned people doing their best to improve the lot of those of us with psych labels, kind of like how I am certain that when Philip writes about phones being maned, he's neither consciously nor unconsciously attempting to demean women.

But the person who pointed to the usage of maning in that context isn't saying he was, she's saying that the discrimination is built into our language and was there before Philip learned to walk, or at least I think that's what she's saying. Anyway identifying these things and discussing them is not always criticism, sometimes it's an honest attempt at discussing a problem.

Of course pc language sometimes fails drastically. Back when I was a nascent feminist, the other feminists would slam me for referring to my close, lifetime female friends as girlfriends. I felt humiliated and angry. That pc crowd was worse than the wrongs they were trying to right, sort of like the Maoists with their re-education camps were at the very least as misguided as the oppressive regimes before them, but which way is the most evil, that's the question.

Meanwhile, pc language that fails should be thrown out. But no one should be discouraged from trying on new terms IMHO.

I read your blog and comment little. I hope that you will soon be able to put aside your frustrations with your errant readers, whoever they may be, and take enjoyment again in your work. It's good work. It's worthy work. Your readers are clearly of all stripes...some cranky and vociferous...some cheery and supportive...some philosophical and some this that or the other. The point is, I guess, that we all come here to read your words. Our responses, some written, but most silent, are not the point. The point is what you have to say. Please say it and then try to be at peace with it. We are listening. What we do with it is our concern.

Amen to Melissa and Sally

You both said it better than I could.

Philip, you said "Ooooh, let's change the terminology and fight the oppressive system."

Unfortunately what actually happens is that people change the terminology and consider their work done. Calling the wheelchair-bound "gimps" is offensive, no doubt, and "physically disabled" of course is better terminology. However, what they need is better access, e.g. ramps, rather than a fancy new name. "Cripple" is a bad word now, I understand.

And I will continue to refer to myself as a gimp or nutter. People in the minority group in question call the shots.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/28/101-being-offended/

Melissa,
I agree with all you said.
I just want to remember, just in case, that Philip knows it all and the "corrections" people did are not even corrections.
These were trolls trying to spoil it all.
I don't even remember about the corrections.
It made no sense.
The psychopath I remember..
Perhaps I'll follow Philip's idea and call them "motherfuckers".
Breaking News:

"Motherfucker kills mother and is assumed to by bipolar"

Ok!
I surrender!
Each one of us, me included :o), must follow Shakespeare steps and leave 25.000 words to English vocabulary.
It's a deal!

Wrong: is presumed to BE Bipolar" I meant...

hello. i am new to your blog. your choice of words doesn't bother me none. you have to find some way of expressing what needs to be expressed. i want to read more of you...perhaps figure out what to do with me and my many moods.

Philip, you forgot to say that the cost of living here in Berkeley is ridiculous and that there are camping nature-nazis with PHD's coming out of our asses. LOL!

I'm probably in the minority in saying that I think "bipolar disorder" has a less unfavorable connotation in the media and in pop culture than "manic depression."

But not by bloody much.

having worked in a few newsrooms with some fairly cynical metro desk sorts, i can assure you that the media views bp and m-d as being the same, which is to say a term meaning 'crazy.' even the nyt recently characterized bp that way at the top of its patients voices thing on bp.

The world is a very big place and every blogger knows that there isn't a blog post that exists that doesn't have the potential to elicit the hostile grandiosity of a tiny mind somewhere in the world.

"Nostradamuses"
I guess Philip has already made 1 contribution to the English language. (at least this is the one I can remember now)

Google Search nostradamuse

Did you mean to search for: nostradamus
There are results in German and some French people uses it as a nickname.
Not a single site in English.

I hope he is in a good mood and it's sunny over there. it's not sunny here.

Complaining about being PC? That's petty.