addiction
Addiction is a strong, persistent need to engage in a certain behavior. The term is often used to describe substance use, but other behaviors like gambling may also be considered addictive. When describing someone who has an addiction, person-first language sends a message that addiction is one aspect of someone’s life and doesn’t define them. Casual use of addiction language in a metaphorical sense (e.g. “She’s addicted to the latest season of X show”) can minimize the gravity of clinical addiction. In coverage of addiction-related issues, it may be helpful to include a helpline number such as the one for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (1-800-662-HELP).
adverse childhood experiences
Adverse childhood experiences are incidents of abuse, neglect, and dysfunction in the home that occur under the age of 18. They can have lasting effects on mental, emotional, and physical health. Interventions early on such as counseling, trauma therapy or support from other adults and caretakers can lead to positive experiences and prevention and recovery from adverse experiences. Careful coverage will consider strengths and limitations of the ACEs framework and take into account both individual/family-level solutions as well as institutional and policy changes that can help address the factors that contribute to the prevalence of ACEs.
anorexia
An eating disorder in which one restricts food intake and experiences severe anxiety around gaining weight. Anorexia can occur in people of any race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, and size. It is not possible to tell if someone is or is not living with anorexia based on appearance. Nuanced coverage accounts for the physical, psychological, and behavioral dimensions of anorexia, whose characteristic feelings and thought patterns can persist even if food restriction does not.
anxiety
Anxiety refers to apprehension of a potential yet distant threat. When someone says they “have anxiety,” they might be referring to a specific anxiety-related condition or generalized anxiety disorder, or they might be referring to the feeling of anxiety generally. If necessary and relevant to coverage to mention, it’s important not to assume or infer an official diagnosis. When deciding whether to mention a specific diagnosis of anxiety, there are several things to consider. Is it pertinent to your story? Is it a formal diagnosis you’ve verified? Do you have the person’s permission?
applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Applied behavior analysis is a method of modifying behaviors in autistic children through behaviorist techniques (i.e., rewards and punishments). ABA remains one of the most common behavioral interventions of autism; alternatives include occupational therapy and structured teaching. The effectiveness of ABA is under debate, and some consider the practice abusive. Exploring these debates helps ensure thoughtful coverage of differing practices and viewpoints within the autism community.
binge-eating disorder
Binge-eating disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of excessive food consumption. It is not the same as overeating. It can be misleading to describe eating a lot of food as bingeing unless it’s in the context of bulimia or binge-eating disorder. Unless you’re writing about the concept of food addiction specifically, addiction-related terms can also be misleading when applied to nutrition or weight.
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that used to be called “manic depression,” characterized by alternating episodes of unusually low mood (depression) and elevated mood (mania). When deciding whether to mention a specific diagnosis of bipolar disorder, there are several things to consider. Is it pertinent to your story? Is it a formal diagnosis you’ve verified? Do you have the person’s permission? Phrases like “X has bipolar disorder” or “X is being treated for bipolar disorder” (versus “is bipolar”) are ways to frame a diagnosis as just one aspect of someone’s identity that doesn’t define them.
body dysmorphia / body dysmorphic disorder
Definition Body dysmorphia, or body dysmorphic disorder, is a type of anxiety disorder classified in the 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a “preoccupation with one or more perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance that are not observable or appear slight to others.” Believed to affect 5 million to 10… Continue reading body dysmorphia / body dysmorphic disorder
bulimia
Language, Please is a living resource that will be regularly updated. We’re working hard on an entry for this topic — please check back in soon.
bullying
Bullying refers to aggressive, persistent behavior that is intended to embarrass, intimidate, isolate, coerce, or harm a vulnerable party. In general, bully works as a noun when speaking about bullying in general (e.g., “Childhood bullies often target submissive peers”). If speaking of a particular individual, however, person-first language is more precise (i.e., “Person X used to bully others” instead of “Person X was a bully”).
Last updated 08/05/22
Mental health can be hard to talk about for people in their everyday lives, so it’s not surprising that reporting on the issue comes with its own challenges. Until relatively recently, in many circles, discussion of mental health issues was considered taboo, and terms that refer to clinical diagnoses were often used in flippant ways to describe perceptions of traits rather than actual medical conditions. Though we’ve come a long way, there’s plenty of evidence that stereotypes and myths related to mental health issues have stubbornly clung to the public consciousness.
This section of the Language, Please style guidance helps journalists recognize and avoid those stereotypes and other common pitfalls in reporting and to understand key mental health subjects in a nuanced way.
This resource was informed by questions and discussions from our own newsrooms. It is a living document that will update and expand over time. It is not meant to be comprehensive or the definitive arbiter of language “rules” but instead aims to give context and inform thoughtful decision-making. Have a suggestion for an update, change, or addition? Please get in touch.
How to use: Browse the whole section or search for the term you need guidance on; click into any term for in-depth context, additional resources, and related terms.
Featured term: neurodiversity
Neurodiversity refers to the presence of many different types of minds throughout the human race, all of which have valuable characteristics. The term aims to categorize autism, ADHD, and other developmental conditions as naturally occurring traits in the human population rather than pathologies to be “cured.” A group or population can be neurodiverse, but a single person cannot, and the term generally isn’t used in a person-first way (e.g., “a person with neurodiversity”). An individual could be referred to as a neurominority or neurologically marginalized, or described with their diagnosis; some also call themselves “neurodivergent.”
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