Why do irrational people use mental illness as an insult?!
Question:
Why do irrational people use mental illness as an insult?
Why don't they tell someone they don't like the views of "Oy you've got a broken leg!" ?
When people use mental illness as a way of trying to insult people they are only exposing their prejudice against the mentally ill. There is no shame in being ill, there is no shame in being mentally ill, it is not insulting to be called something you are not.
Answers:
There is an unfortunate stigma attached to being mentally ill. It is associated with weakness and deviant behaviour. If someone behaves in a way that society does not accept then it is easier to box them off under the category 'mental'. It is very sad, because not all mental illnesses cause the sufferer to behave badly - a lot of mental illnesses are kept under wraps because people are ashamed. They are ashamed because of this stigma. It's a vicious circle. It's going to take more people like you or I in order for society to accept that mental illness is just that - an illness, not a lifestyle choice! Equally, if someone uses these illnesses as a means of insulting another person, then they are discriminating. Not only is it insulting to the person being called it (whether they have a mental problem or not), it is insulting to other sufferers - just because someone is behaving badly does not mean that their behaviour should be explained using mental illness - it's not fair to do that. Bad behaviour can be just that - bad behaviour.