Self-Labelling and Self-Identity

Modern-day humans love to categorize and name things. We apply labels to everything. We have labelled recent generations as Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. It’s useful as shorthand, most will agree, as it points to commonalities among people in those groups. They were all born within certain periods of time, usually in North America, and they have common understandings of popular culture and how to socially navigate through the world. But humans love to categorize so much that stereotypes are created, and there is little room for individual characteristics and abilities to come forth. The comfort we feel living with a particular identity — like the one generational label assigns to us — can become uncomfortable if other people solely rely on the stereotypes to build their idea of us.

In this course, we have used the term “peers” to describe people who, like us, have experienced mental health challenges. There are many other labels our community has used over the years to describe ourselves:

• people with lived experience of mental health challenges/mental illness
• consumer/survivors (of mental illness, of the psychiatric system)
• psychiatric survivors
• ex-patients
• mad people

It is challenging – and sometimes even political – to choose a name that represents everyone, and within our peer community we will encounter people who prefer terms that are not included in the list above. Some people refuse to accept any label related to mental illness or diagnosis, while others will play with people’s expectations by taking on the labels that were previously used to denigrate or dismiss people with mental health challenges, like “crazy.”

There are pros and cons to using a label, and which labels we choose to use may change depending on how far we’ve come in our sense of personhood (remember the lesson on patienthood vs personhood?), which social situation we are in (at work, among peers, with family), and how useful the label is to us at the time.

Let’s consider an example. You are joining in a public protest in your city to speak out against low disability pension payments. When you gather with others in the disability community for the march, you are comfortable using the label of “disabled” publicly because it will amplify the message that people with disabilities need adequate support. After the protest, you return to work. There, the label “disabled” is less useful because you worry about your colleagues’ perceptions — some of them don’t understand yet that people with mental health challenges like yours are capable of working (see stigma, above).

Mental health diagnoses are labels that can help and harm us. The website eliminatestigma.org points out three ways diagnostic labels help us and three ways they hinder us:

Pros	Cons
Labels can legitimize our experience A mental health diagnosis is often delivered after a long period of distress. It can bring a sense of relief when we finally have a label we can use to explain our experience, and we can stop feeling shame or being blamed. These labels help others understand what we’re going through, too.	Labels are limiting Once a diagnostic label is in place, the people around us in our families and in our medical teams are reluctant to see beyond it. We can let the label become self-limiting, too, and take it on as part of our identity. Our potential is diminished.
Labels can open doors to treatment and recovery With a diagnosis, we can more easily find the help we need and get support that is tailored to our situation. The labels can also guide our mental health professionals to the treatments that have worked for others. For some, a diagnosis can give people financial access to the treatments they need through their insurance.	Labels are disempowering With a diagnosis, there may be negative aspects related to our symptoms, and the label begins to be equated to those. Our view of ourselves can be altered if we place a lot of emphasis on these negative aspects. Other people may perceive the label as negative, too, and let it change their view of us.
Labels help us find our peers With a name to our experience, we are more likely to find people who have also experienced something similar and who understand the struggles we face. Our peers can show us what recovery looks like.	Diagnostic labels are illness-centered Everything becomes viewed through the lens of the diagnosis and typical human emotions (like sadness, anger, frustration) or physical health issues (memory problems, pain, fatigue) become attributed to the illness and are not taken seriously. (Read the poem “You and Me” by Debbie Sesula to see how she describes it.)

As you can see, our diagnoses can be empowering and give us access to tools and resources that will help us in our mental health recovery, but these labels can also keep us in a state of patienthood if we are not careful.

Peer support workers are listeners, and we want to listen to our peers actively and notice it when they are using self-stigmatizing language or when they are relying on their diagnoses to explain why they shouldn’t try the next step in their recovery journey. When you hear this, you have an opportunity to understand your peer’s worldview better, and to open conversation about their hopes for the future. If your peer is open to it, brainstorm new labels that are empowering and strong.

▶ Take action

Read the poem “To Be a Mental Patient” by Rae Unzicker on antipsychiatry.org. How is the writer using labels? What does this poem say about self-stigma? How would you open a conversation about their current worldview?

Can we use labels or not?

Your peers may refer to themselves using a label, but you should always ask them how you should refer to them and their experience. (Think of it this way: Just because someone labels themselves a mom doesn’t mean they want to be called “Mom” by everyone.) This is especially important if you are going out in public where you will have to introduce your peers. Here are some ways you can open that conversation:

“I heard you refer to yourself as [label]. When we’re talking about your experiences privately, how do you want me to talk about it? Should I call it [label], too?”

“If I’m introducing you to others in our presentation tomorrow, I want to describe you in terms you prefer. Can you tell me how you want to be introduced?”

“I notice you avoid the term [label] and use [label], instead. Can you tell me about that?”

“When we go to the fitness centre tomorrow, we may run into people I know. Do you want me to call you my client or do you prefer something else? I want to make sure you are comfortable.”

Remember: Our identities are not fixed, and as we move through our mental health recovery, our ideas of ourselves change. Labels can be helpful in some situations but not in others. Checking in with our peers shows respect and care.

▶ Take action

Watch this video about labels. The 12 people in this video are/were leaders and activists in the peer movement in the Toronto, Ontario area. When you are done, complete the activity below.

https://youtu.be/pxbw7dDMX60?si=Y5q_kP2oSixFMciJ

ACTIVITY: Reflection

Download the worksheet called ACTIVITY: Reflect on Labels and Stigma and complete the exercises. When you are done, upload the document here and continue to the quiz on Stigma and Labels.