Persuasive essay

Topic: People with mental illness should not be called 'Crazy'

Reasons:
1. The shame of going for proper treatment
2. Leading to negative thinking

Outline:
I. Introduction
A. Evidence from ​Robert Spencer
B. Background information about mental illness in society
B. Thesis
II. Body
A. The shame of going for proper treatment
B. ​Sheila O'Donnell’s experience
C. ​A study by Rachel Ewing
D. Negative thinking from bad word
E. ​Danielle Campoamor’s experience
F. Research by Danielle Goodwin

III. Conclusion
A. My opinion
B. Thesis

People with mental illness should not be called ‘Crazy'

Reference to Robert Spencer (2018), he reveals that the condition of mental illness
has been in our conversations and been on our focus recently, but it has been negative.
People with mental illness have been victims of society by the misunderstanding and
misconception of it. At present, mental illness is not that rare as it was in the last five years. It
is one of the most harmful illnesses along with diabetes. Some stills find this problem is far
from them and considered the illness to be a funny joke. ‘Crazy’ a simple word that is
generally being spoken. We might not concern how this word can hurt some people to the
thinking of suicide. ​I believe that people with mental illness should not be called crazy
because it can lead to negative thinking and the be the obstacle for doing a treatment.
Calling people with mental illness with harsh words like crazy can let them be
ashamed of seeking proper treatment at the hospital. ​Besides from the symptoms,
misconception of mental illness is another thing that people living with mental illness are
struggling. In a study of Sheila O'Donnell (2017), she has found that it was not easy for
people with mental illness to overcome the shame in taking the treatment because of many
factors. The most influential factor is the social perspective. A study by Rachel Ewing (2018),
it indicates the idea of people with mental illness that are different, irrational, and unable to
be normal are seem to classify them to be other rather than a person. Her friend had a
mental health stigma with the word crazy. She started hearing the word perpetually and
could not stop hearing it over and over. Rachel Ewing has drawn attention to the fact that the
person that needs a treatment are less likely to seek help because they do not want others
to see them in the other severe way.
Negative thinking such as hating themselves can occur if they have got too
much harsh and thoughtless words or heartless opinions from others. ​Danielle
Campoamor (2017), she had been in trauma with the word ‘Crazy.’ She said that ‘Crazy’
does not mean just to tell something is outlandish, but for her, it means broken or unrealistic.
A study by Danielle Goodwin (2017), it shows that the stigmatizing words can make people
with mental illness feel hopeless, and feel that there is nothing can help except hurting
themselves to death. Especially, people with anxiety are not only hurt by the words, but it
also touches their nerve. It makes the process of recovering even harder.
While I was reading the researches, I found out that even there are a lot of people
who are suffering from the misconception of the mental illness, we still use the word crazy to
describe them. I believe that ‘Crazy’ is not a word that everyone wants to hear from other,
especially for people living with mental illness. They are not crazy. They are human with the
same heart as us. We do not want to be called crazy, they too.

References :

Danielle, G. (2017). Words hurt, especially when talking about mental illness. Retrieved from
https://www.realchangenews.org/2017/12/13/words-hurt-especially-when-talking-abo
ut-mental-illness

Sheila, O. (2017). Why This Idea About Mental Health Hospitalization Needs to Change.
Retrieved from
https://themighty.com/2017/08/mental-health-hospitalization-stigma-needs-to-change/

Rachel, E. (2018). “That’s Crazy”: Why You Might Want to Rethink That Word in Your
Vocabulary. Retrieved from
https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-blog/2018/september/that-crazy-why-you-
might-want-to-rethink-that-word-in-your-vocabulary

Danielle, C. (2017). Why you should think twice before using the word 'crazy’. Retrieved from
https://www.thisisinsider.com/why-saying-crazy-affects-those-mental-illness-2017-11

Robert, S.(2018).Personal Stories: Don’t Call Me Crazy. Retrieved from

https://www.nami.org/Personal-Stories/Don-t-Call-Me-Crazy