TY  - JOUR
T1  - PErson, place, or thing
AU  - Freeman MP
Y1  - 2009/02/11
N1  - 10.1001/jama.2009.114
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 580
EP  - 580
VL  - 301
IS  - 6
N2  - 
As a psychiatrist, I have a strong negative reaction when I hear psychiatric diagnoses used as nouns or even adjectives to describe human beings. I cringe when I hear people described as “schizophrenics,” “bipolars,” “depressives,” and similar terms. It is also suboptimal to state “bipolar women” or “schizophrenic men,” with the psychiatric descriptor so “integral” to the person. While it requires more words to write and speak, the more dignified placement of the psychiatric term is worth the effort. There is more dignity in stating “a woman with bipolar disorder” or “a man with a diagnosis of schizophrenia” or “an individual with a depressive illness.” The care we use with language around any diagnosis imparts an impression of how we feel it either affects or defines individuals.

SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.114
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.114
ER  -