Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: offensive language in the game

[R Philip Dowds (rphilipdowds]

I’m still not tracking very well (cognitive dysfunction?).  But should I 
understand that I *can’t* describe someone as having a "personality disorder”, 
but I *can* describe him/her as “mentally ill”?  (Personally, I don’t like 
“living with mental illness”, because it implies having made the choice (like 
living with pets), rather than being afflicted and deserving help.  But maybe 
that’s just me …)

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA 02140

mobile: 617.460.4549
email:   rphilipdowds [at] me.com

> On Mar 7, 2021, at 4:54 PM, Clara Lovatt <claraagnes48 [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I can't respond definitely because I don't have the game and I'm not sure
> of the context. (And it sounds like a fun/useful game:)   But generally I
> find the term 'personality disorder' offensive because  1 -it is a
> diagnosis, true  - but a diagnosis that in recent years has been questioned
> as having enough specificity about it to be useful-. and  2 - it is an
> overused term to mean a whole range of negative things - like the term'
> crazy'... which is derogative and difficult for someone living with mental
> illness.  Generally I find that if someone raises a flag on an offensive
> word - there are others who don't like it as well and may not speak up.
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info <http://l.cohousing.org/info>