Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)

The use of the term "mental disorder" is archaic and pathologising. Language reflects reality but also shapes it, and the term "mental disorder" is reductive medicalising. It has the potential to objectify people with mental health difficulties. We have had a long history of that and stigmatisation. This is something we need to move away from, not only in our concrete actions but also in the language we use.

It is also unnecessary in the Bill. Every instance of the term in this Bill is qualified by further comments on severity and impact, and that includes the sections on involuntary treatment. It is not as if "mental health difficulties" trivialises someone who might require involuntary admission or treatment because you can have severe mental health difficulties just as you have mild mental health difficulties. I continue to advocate for the substitution of the term "mental health difficulties" for "mental disorder" in the legislation, in line with Sharing the Vision, our national mental health policy.

It is also worth noting that people in secondary and emergency mental health services typically do not meet the criteria for just one so-called mental disorder. They tend to experience a range of mental health difficulties which overlap diagnostic categories. In this sense, the term "mental disorder" is also simplistic. "Mental health difficulties" is more reflective of the multifaceted nature of severe psychological states. "Mental disorder" suggests an outdated medical model of these states and personality patterns.

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