Apperently the word "crazy" is offensive to the insane

[buck_dawg_gold]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201004...s/ynews_ts1615

Let me be the first to say what up my crazy...?

[buck_dawg_gold]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201004...s/ynews_ts1615

Let me be the first to say what up my crazy...?

Apparently I cant spell

[champion110]

Actually, insane is pretty offensive too. Mental illness can be treated - much the same as diabetes. There are certain words from the past that are offensive.

Mental Retardation is leaving the vocabulary, as well. It is now Intellectual Disability.

[Guisslapp]

What is wrong with the term "mental retardation"? Is it inaccurate?

[champion110]

What is wrong with the term "mental retardation"? Is it inaccurate?

Parents and advocates got together and believe that it sounds derogatory, so they are pushing for a change. In Texas, all our "MR" departments have changed to IDD "Intellectual Developmental Disability". That has been a difficult change here, but it is catching on now that all the departments changed the name. The term mental retardation became a slang term used to put down others as in "you are so retarded". It will be much more difficult to say "you are so intellectually developmentally disabled". :icon_wink:

[buck_dawg_gold]

Actually, insane is pretty offensive too. Mental illness can be treated - much the same as diabetes. There are certain words from the past that are offensive.

Mental Retardation is leaving the vocabulary, as well. It is now Intellectual Disability.

NOt trying to be an ass but how would somebody who is crazy know that they were being offended... intellectual disability sounds worse to me than mental retardation. Just because someone is retarded does not mean they lack the ability to be intellectual...

[champion110]

NOt trying to be an ass but how would somebody who is crazy know that they were being offended... intellectual disability sounds worse to me than mental retardation. Just because someone is retarded does not mean they lack the ability to be intellectual...

I am not defending the IDD issue, although I can see the point. There are many persons with mild retardation that know exactly what you are saying and are offended. Also, the family members know. It is just a change in how we look at the condition. Sometimes a name change is necessary in order to restore dignity.

On the other issue, what are you calling "crazy"? Mental Illness is VERY treatable and many are functioning members of society. Medications and therapy has come a long way. You manage illnesses such as Schizophrenia (and like disorders), Major Depression, and Bi-Polar with medication and people are very functional. I have treated attorneys, doctors, and a whole host of other very capable professionals with mental illness. They receive treatment and IF they stay on their medications, they go back to work and then have to hear the words "insane" and "crazy". I completely agree with them on this issue.

I think "crazy" and "insane" stopped being used around the 1960's. In my profession, it is considered very ignorant to use those terms.

[DawgyNWindow]

http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

That place is about 30 miles south of where I live.

Hey, is lunatic better than crazy?

[champion110]

http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

That place is about 30 miles south of where I live.

Hey, is lunatic better than crazy?

I have worked in a place that looked very similar. :icon_wink:

The 1800's were the time to use that word too. :icon_wink:

[mildawg]

http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

That place is about 30 miles south of where I live.

Hey, is lunatic better than crazy?

Down in Weston, right? Supposedly a great haunted house for Halloween.

http://www.theasylumwv.com/

I really wanted to go this past year, but it's a little far from here -- about 3 hours.

[Dirtydawg]

I am not defending the IDD issue, although I can see the point. There are many persons with mild retardation that know exactly what you are saying and are offended. Also, the family members know. It is just a change in how we look at the condition. Sometimes a name change is necessary in order to restore dignity.

On the other issue, what are you calling "crazy"? Mental Illness is VERY treatable and many are functioning members of society. Medications and therapy has come a long way. You manage illnesses such as Schizophrenia (and like disorders), Major Depression, and Bi-Polar with medication and people are very functional. I have treated attorneys, doctors, and a whole host of other very capable professionals with mental illness. They receive treatment and IF they stay on their medications, they go back to work and then have to hear the words "insane" and "crazy". I completely agree with them on this issue.

I think "crazy" and "insane" stopped being used around the 1960's. In my profession, it is considered very ignorant to use those terms.

What kind of help do you have for me?

[Brian96]

Okay, I'll weigh in.

I don't know about "offensive," but the ad does seem pretty ignorant. Thankfully, "crazy" and to a lesser extent "insane" have long since lost any clinical meaning, such that when they now used in the vernacular they have a nice, colloquial, nonclinical, vague connotation. Basically, when you call someone "crazy" people almost always know what you mean and a particular diagnosis is not conjured up. (Although, I'd argue against my point and say that Borderline Personality Disorder is probably the best clinical representation of the colloquial "crazy.")

I'd also disagree in part with Champ's comments about "Mentally Retardation." It is far from falling out of clinical use, except maybe in clinical settings where it is a predominant presentation. And it is still the official diagnosis, and it appears it will be retained in DSM-V. As for Guislapp's question about accuracy, I'd argue that we don't really know if it's accurate or not. We don't really have a definition of intelligence that everyone can get behind, much less a clear biological picture of it, so whether people at the lower end of the intelligence spectrum are "retarded" remains to be seen. I will say, though, that processing speed is one of many elements that is currently used to estimate someone's intelligence, so "retarded" is not completely inaccurate, though it may not capture the whole picture. Champ is right, though, that this is driven purely by the fact that "retarded" has become widely used in a negative sense in the vernacular. The bottom line there, I think, is that no matter what label we use to classify those whose measured intellectual abilities fall in the lower percentiles, that term is going to be used pejoratively. I guess we could cycle through terms every couple of generations to slow down the cycle, but it's not really going to change anything.

While I'm going, I'd also like to weigh in on the whole "disabled" versus "handicapped" thing. I don't know who thought "disabled" was an upgrade. To me it sounds like "unable," suggesting global deficits, where as "handicapped" sounds more like specific deficits. Maybe it's just me. I definitely believe that this whole "specially abled" euphemism is not going to catch on. Really, it's probably best to just comment on the specific deficit, e.g., "visually impaired."

Oh, well. And the beat goes on...

[Brian96]

What kind of help do you have for me?

CARL syndrome.

[FishingBack]

Everybody who gets upset over the insult "retard" is retarded.

People know what it means in a conversation. We know that developmentally disabled individuals are not the target of the insult.

[Dirtydawg]

Okay, I'll weigh in.

I don't know about "offensive," but the ad does seem pretty ignorant. Thankfully, "crazy" and to a lesser extent "insane" have long since lost any clinical meaning, such that when they now used in the vernacular they have a nice, colloquial, nonclinical, vague connotation. Basically, when you call someone "crazy" people almost always know what you mean and a particular diagnosis is not conjured up. (Although, I'd argue against my point and say that Borderline Personality Disorder is probably the best clinical representation of the colloquial "crazy.")

I'd also disagree in part with Champ's comments about "Mentally Retardation." It is far from falling out of clinical use, except maybe in clinical settings where it is a predominant presentation. And it is still the official diagnosis, and it appears it will be retained in DSM-V. As for Guislapp's question about accuracy, I'd argue that we don't really know if it's accurate or not. We don't really have a definition of intelligence that everyone can get behind, much less a clear biological picture of it, so whether people at the lower end of the intelligence spectrum are "retarded" remains to be seen. I will say, though, that processing speed is one of many elements that is currently used to estimate someone's intelligence, so "retarded" is not completely inaccurate, though it may not capture the whole picture. Champ is right, though, that this is driven purely by the fact that "retarded" has become widely used in a negative sense in the vernacular. The bottom line there, I think, is that no matter what label we use to classify those whose measured intellectual abilities fall in the lower percentiles, that term is going to be used pejoratively. I guess we could cycle through terms every couple of generations to slow down the cycle, but it's not really going to change anything.

While I'm going, I'd also like to weigh in on the whole "disabled" versus "handicapped" thing. I don't know who thought "disabled" was an upgrade. To me it sounds like "unable," suggesting global deficits, where as "handicapped" sounds more like specific deficits. Maybe it's just me. I definitely believe that this whole "specially abled" euphemism is not going to catch on. Really, it's probably best to just comment on the specific deficit, e.g., "visually impaired."

Oh, well. And the beat goes on...

Maybe you could type this again but a bit slower next time. I'm not really understanding what you're trying to say. Call me "retarded", but it seems a bit heady.