Dr. Fiona Morrissey:

The language in the current Act is improved somewhat in the Bill but these improvements do not go far enough. We need to use the language used in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Using terms like "mental disorder" suggests people are disordered. We need to start focusing on people's strengths rather than on their deficits. The change from "patient" to "person" is very welcome, but we need to move away from terms like "mental disorder" and even "mental illness". The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities refers to people with psychosocial disabilities and people who experience psychosocial distress. We need to move away from that language because language is very powerful. It can label a person and such a label can be a great burden. Once you have that diagnosis or label, everything you do in your life is questioned. We need to be very aware of the language we use in respect of people. It is primarily a question of talking about people as equal human beings, the same as ourselves, rather than talking about them as being disordered in any way.

It is just different degrees or levels of human distress that we all experience. We need to move away from that language throughout the Act and the proposed draft Bill. We need to get rid of terms such as "mental disorder" for sure.