The Language of Internalized Oppression

Reflecting on the words we use to describe our own mental health–think words like ‘recovery’ or ‘trigger’–can help us reject problematic frameworks and filter out worldviews that do more harm than good.

“There’s a lot to say about how language is used against us. How it can serve as a feature of oppression to ‘other’, alienate, and dehumanize. It would take me an eternity to list all the words and ways of speaking that fit into this category, primarily because those working in the mental health system (and the media, etc.) seem to keep coming up with more.”