Sunday, April 4, 2021

Using alternative names for common mental health disorders


It’s common for stigma and unhelpful judgements to be attached to those with “mental health” issues.

If one has a body, one will have some kind of physical health issues. Likewise, if one has a mind, then one will also have some kind of mental health issues. None of us are immune to this are we?

I sometimes prefer to use different “labels” to describe some of our common mental health diagnoses to reduce stigma, judgements, or to offer an alternative description of the problem perhaps.  It can normalize it to some extent. 

Borderline Personality Disorder to “Emotional Personality”

Attention Deficit Disorder to “Curious and Distractible Personality”. Sensory learner or sensory seeking perhaps.  

Depression/anxiety to “Adjustment issues with stress response”

ODD to “Inner compass personality”

ASD to “Logical or a more emotionally defused personality style”

I also find these especially helpful when taking a transdiagnostic approach to treat mental health issues. 


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