Dr. Fiona Morrissey:

That is a good question. I think Deputy Hourigan was talking about it as well. That stigmatising language is important because when discriminatory language is used, it affects a person's identity and role in society and it devalues them. When you talk about people with a mental disorder, it becomes an othering. You are talking about these other people. That is why at the beginning of the session I said this applies to all of us. It is not some people out there with mental disorders. It is just human beings who experience mental or human distress. When we use language that makes people different or equates to othering, we start dehumanising people and talking their human rights away.

Language is important and that is why the CRPD did not use any of that medicalised language. It used terms like "psychosocial disability". It did not define "disability" because there can be different levels of human distress and of disability. I have heard people talk about having a mental disorder and, therefore, not being able to do certain things in their lives, such as getting married or making decisions for themselves, and having no control over their lives.

When you undermine somebody's value in society by labelling them in stigmatising and discriminatory language, you undermine their identity and society's perception of them. It is important to move away from such language to more human rights-based language where people are seen as equal human beings with the same rights we all have. That is why it is critical that we allow people to make decisions for themselves and that we do not take rights like their legal capacity away from them. We all need different supports to make decisions and we should give them the supports to do that. The language in the legislation is powerful in terms of society's perception of people experiencing mental distress. We need to move away from that sort of language if we want to move to a society where it is accepted and people are treated with respect.