From a philosophical perspective, people with an illness are considered ‘people first’. Neither illness nor disability determines personhood; humanity defines a person. Because an individual who experiences a mental illness should not defined by the illness, current usage prefers language such as ‘a person who has experienced mental illness’ or ‘a person with schizophrenia’ rather than ‘a schizophrenic’.

Oxford Textbook of Community Mental Health (read Chapter One for free here)

File under: language is important.

See also: persons of colour, persons with disabilities…

Notes

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