a mental excercise (no pun intended)
 

inspired by MrSelfDestruct's post on "what is this forum really for?" i thought i'd get up a discussion going.

make a mental note of terms (non-medical) we give to people with mental disorders.

now make a note of terms we give to people who have cancer, lung disease, etc.

compare the two "lists". notice a difference?

why is it that we have so many negative terms for people suffering depression, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, etc. and hardly any for cancer patients or terminal illnesses? are terminal illnesses "worse" than mental disorders? i don't believe so. mental illnesses are real disorders that should be treated and taken care of. both cases are of people suffering. mental disorders could lead to suicide or suicidal attempts and they're not painless. :P so why the double standards here?

We understand so little about the brain and how it works. We can't actually see the person's illness either. Whenever humans do not understand something they despise it. We can understand physical illness because we've all had a cold or the flu at some times. We haven't all had a major mental illness and so cannot relate at all in some cases. It's a matter of Fear - what we fear we criticise.

This is one reason I intend to expose and have already exposed my daughter to those with handicaps and other special needs. I want her to be familiar with those things so she isn't afraid of them.

Cancer/lung disease etc and mental illness are miles apart, you can't really compare them in this way. But you have raised a very good point, the derogatory names that are used to label people with mental illnesses really aren't necessary.
The reason is though (and I'm by no means condoning it), that people with some sorts of mental illness will act irrationally at times (whereas people with terminal illnesses will most likely just get weaker, but usually maintain their personality and brain function) - so you can see where the labels come from; society doesn't like it if people don't act 'normally'.

Ever think that psychology is a pseudo science?

Of course it is...If there are never any absolutes, than it cannot be scientific merely speculation...