Rethinking word choices in media

This post was inspired by David deBoer, Associate Director of the Wellness Center at Loyola Univeristy Chicago. deBoer told our class one of his colleagues refuses to say the word stigma as a way to combat it. Word choice is of outmost importance, especially when covering mental health stories.

An article by Carey Goldberg suggests that the terms used in media about mental health diseases are to blame for the stigma associated with them. It suggests the use of 'people first' language. For example, instead of saying schizophrenic, say, a person with schizophrenia.

“Imagine if I said that about any other group," said Dr. Summergrad, psychiatrist-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center and chair of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine." It suggests that people who suffer with these conditions are somehow other than us, and can be put in a discrete and often stigmatized category. It creates a sense of otherness that is not the reality, statistically, of these illnesses.”

The Associated Press has also shifted to people first language as well.

"The AP’s decision to stop using “illegal immigrant” is part of a larger shift away from labeling people and toward labeling behaviors. For example, the new entry on mental illness says to refer to people “diagnosed with schizophrenia” instead of “schizophrenics.”

What is important to realize is the words can and will hurt people. It is better to take up a little more space in the paper and be more sensitive towards people in need.

Below is a video about the same subject from a clinical therapist.

Here is a helpful link to help you decide what terms to use. 

By: Anel Herrera