Monday, February 18, 2013

Merriam-Webster.com

Here you will find the letter for Merriam-Webster.com.

 The website you want to visit to send the letter is:

 http://www.merriam-webster.com/contact/definition.htm

 Here is the letter that I have drafted. Please don't forget to read through an make any necessary adjustments before sending (i.e. changing it from an individual living with a mental illness to a family member, loved one, etc.). I know it is not that easy to read because I don't have it broken up into paragraphs but that is how it needs to be copied and pasted into their site to send it successfully.

As an individual living with a mental illness, fighting the stigma associated with mental illness and promoting public awareness around mental illness is of the utmost importance to me and my family. For too long, mental illness has been horribly misunderstood as the public image promotes mental illness in a fearful and dangerous light. Yet mental illness is a disease, like any other disease. Mental illness is treatable and there are many success stories of people surviving with mental illness and living healthy and fulfilling lives, like myself.
Having a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. Definitions and thesaurus entries such as yours of the term psychotic further the already detrimental stigma that individuals living with a mental illness face in their day to day lives. Terms such as “batty”, “disturbed”, “nutty” and “loony tunes” are offensive in any discussion of mental illness and should not be accepted. The term psychotic is a clinical terminology and the definition should obtain no more than the clinical definition. Your post goes far beyond the definition of psychotic and uses slang terminology to label the many individuals living with a mental illness. Such an approach would never be tolerated in a discussion about cancer, diabetes or any other medical illness and should not be tolerated in any discussion about mental illness.
People with mental illness and their families deserve to live in a society where they are respected and dignified, not in a society where they are feared, judged or misunderstood. I am asking that you revise your entry of the term psychotic to reflect the true definition of the word including removing all slang terminology from your entry, some of which I have previously listed. This kind of language is entirely unacceptable and extremely hurtful to individuals living with a mental illness and their loved ones. I encourage you to take it upon yourself to remove this hateful language from your definition. Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing the changes on your website.


This is the link to my original post titled "Psychotic is Not a Dirty Word" which showcases the hateful language used by 3 different websites in defining the terms Psychotic and Psychosis, in case you would like a refresher:  
Thank you for your support!
-KSG- 

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