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“It shows a lack of knowledge about mental health, and that is what we should be frightened of”

While women or racial groups might rise up in solidarity, trying to empower themselves against prejudice, people with mental illness will often internalize the negativity, and that may make them less likely to “come out,” said Patrick Corrigan, a psychology professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology whose research focuses on overcoming mental health stigma.

“This is not petty or trivial,” Corrigan said of the stigma issue. Trump “is not a cause of it – he’s just another representation of it.”

In 2007, a Centers for Disease Control study found only 24.6 percent of people with mental health symptoms “believed that people are caring and sympathetic to persons with mental illness.”

New York songwriter Rachel Griffin, who is open about her own depression and anxiety and started a social media campaign to encourage people with mental health issues to tweet #imnotashamed, said the type of language used by Trump adds to the “shame.”

“It shows a lack of knowledge about mental health, and that is what we should be frightened of,” she said.

NAMI urges communities to talk about mental illness with the same sensitivity they would use to discuss cultural diversity, religious beliefs, physical disabilities or sexual orientation.

“It’s a loss of self-esteem, self-devaluation, and creates a barrier to recovery”

“A person diagnosed with mental illness absorbs that disparagement themselves,” said Bob Carolla, spokesman for the association. “It’s a loss of self-esteem, self-devaluation, and creates a barrier to recovery. People in general come to recognize and feel the stigma that exists, and if they think they might need help, they don’t seek help because they don’t want to be isolated or rejected.”

Weeding out these words will be viewed by some as another example of political correctness overreach. And ceasing use of certain common words is not going to end long-held stigmas.

But mental health experts say language choice matters. That few flinch when those words are used as insults is indicative of how discrimination persists.

“Stigmatizing words, stereotypes and portrayals end up helping to shape society’s attitudes,” Carolla said. “You can’t say it’s harmless, because it isn’t.”