The use of “people first” language in the context of political correctness when speaking about mental health is not as widespread or even acknowledged as it needs to be. For example, “Rhys is schizophrenic” is not “people first” as it identifies Rhys with schizophrenia. A more courteous term is “Rhys lives with schizophrenia.” This last sentence is “people first,” as it allows that there are other aspects of Rhys’s life and identity that are independent of the schizophrenia with which he lives.
You can improve how you think about yourself and respond to people who talk about you as if you are your mental illness. Namely, you can assign to yourself labels that identify facets of your make-up that have nothing to do with mental illnesses or brain disorders.
In my book “The Overlife, A Tale Of Schizophrenia,” Jodie and her daughter Sarah live with paranoid schizophrenia. Jodie became labeled as “mad” by almost everyone she knew as they witnessed her symptoms. However, right at the beginning of the book, Sarah explains why Jodie labeled herself a “Dancer.” She believed in that label throughout her whole life, and it helped Jodie and Sarah have a way to think about Jodie and a way to talk to others about her that did not label her as being “mad” and nothing else besides.
What labels can you assign to yourself that identify aspects of your make-up that give you inner positive reinforcement and that you can present to outsiders as independent of the mental illness with which you live?
Some of my labels are: “mathematician,” “animal lover,” and “spouse!”