Preferred Terminology of People With Serious Mental Illness

People with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) have argued for name changes for their conditions given problems with oversimplification, stigma, and social exclusion. There is a need to better understand the terminology preferences of people with SMI. The present two-part qualitative study analyzed data regarding participant preferences and evaluations of different labels for SMIs using qualitative data analysis methodologies of grounded theory and content analysis. The range of names identified by people with SMI in the present qualitative interviews and the positive and negative evaluations of the different labels are presented. Results were integrated across Study 1 and Study 2 to identify the following preferred and nonpreferred terms for these mental health problems; mental illness, diagnosis, disorder, psychiatric disability, person in recovery, person with lived experience, mental health challenges/issues, chemical imbalance, symptom names, and self-constructed labels. These results suggest the need to identify and reflect the terminology preferences of each individual with mental health problems when seeking psychological services and recognize the varying benefits of different terms depending on time and context. Impact Statement This study identifies terminology preferences for people with serious mental illness, an underserved group, and helps clarify best practices for providers of psychological services and investigating and reflecting terminology preferences for this population to reduce stigma, and promote recovery-oriented care practices in supporting their self-determination and empowerment.