I've spent a lifetime with the mentally ill, as well as with mental health care workers. My aunt works with mentally ill adults, and did a lot to educate me after I left home.

Anyway, I began to find myself getting offended when I heard stigmatizing labels regarding a person's mental health... i.e. crazy, messed up, psychotic...

I often times find it to be ignorant, intolerant, and/or overly judgmental, certainly insensitive. In bad situations I have used the term crazy to describe someone behaving destructively in my life, out of frustration and for lack of a more astute word. I suppose I've been somewhat guilty of this myself.

Perhaps one day these terms will fall into the same league as certain profane words related to race and sexual orientation, which I will not repeat on this forum. It would be wonderful if the public and school children were educated more on mental health and mental illness. May be the only way to combat the stigma.

Does anyone else get offended by this? Have people labeled you this way? Looking for anyone to share opinion and experience...