How you use language really does matter. Using the right kind of language when discussing mental illness can help communicate acceptance and understanding. Using the wrong kind of language, however, can add to the stigma and rejection that persons with mental illness so often encounter.
What is the right kind of language to use about mental illness? When speaking or writing about any disability, you need to use what is called "People First Language." This consists of words that refer to the person first, rather than that person's condition. Avoid such terms as "the mentally ill." Instead, say: "people with mental illness," "a man or woman who has a mental illness," "members of the congregation who have mental illness."

People with mental illness, like other people of faith, look to the Church for compassion and understanding. The Church community must help stamp out the use of such demeaning terms as "crazy," "lunatic," "nut," or "psycho." It must also discourage the use of the words "victim," "afflicted with", and "suffers from." These are terms that evoke pity, and other negative images, which people with mental illness do not want.