Challenging the misuse of 'schizophrenia'

Do you ever see or hear the term ‘schizophrenic’ used in your local media to mean ‘in two minds’, perhaps when it has nothing to do with mental illness? If so, why not write a short letter to correct this? It needn’t take much time or money, and if you stick to one point and make it clearly, you have more chance of your letter being taken seriously and acted upon.

When and who to write to
For maximum impact, it’s best to write in shortly afterwards, particularly if you want your letter to be printed in a newspaper’s letters page. You can write to a newspaper’s letters page and editor, or the producer of a programme, as well as an individual reporter if they have misused the term.

Getting it right: John’s experience
John Setright contacted a newspaper to complain about their misuse of the word schizophrenia. He had a very positive response, as the newspaper explained their policy of mental health terminology and apologised. A summary of his letter follows below:

Subject: People who suffer from schizophrenia

Dear Editor,

What is your policy in describing people who suffer from the mental illness as detailed above?

In this article, your reporter refers to a young man as a "diagnosed schizophrenic". Would he refer to someone with cancer is a "cancerist"? The unfortunate young man was diagnosed as suffering from a "schizophrenic mental illness". Why not say that?

Those of us who support family who suffer from mental illness despair when we
read reports in august publications such as yours, which continue to use language which perpetuates the stigmatisation of those of us who suffer from mental illness.

Many thanks

John Setright

If you would like to follow John's example, please adapt this letter and change the wording to include “schizophrenic” or “schizophrenia” as appropriate, the publication’s name and date, and add your name at the end.

Dear

Your use of the word “schizophrenic” in [name of publication and date] was very inappropriate. Although the word is often used as shorthand for a person caught in two minds or looking both ways at the same time, it means something quite different.

I would ask you to rethink your approach to the use of the word.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with symptoms that include frightening hallucinations and delusions. If that were not enough, schizophrenia carries with it a great deal of misunderstanding associated with notions of “split personality” and violent Jeckyll and Hyde mood swings.

People with schizophrenia can and do recover a meaningful and fulfilling life. However, they have to overcome not only the symptoms of the illness but also the reactions of people who think they are being confronted by a monster rather than another human being who happens to have a serious illness.

Yours sincerely


[name]