People with mental illness “are not right in the mind/head”

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People with mental illness “are not right in the mind/head”. Someone has just said this to me and initially I feel like it’s deragotory term. Is it? If it is why? If it isn’t why?

It might not be intended to be derogatory, but it is. It's the words "Not right" that make it derogatory.

You could say exactly the same thing without being derogatory by instead saying "have a mind that works differently".

Was is an older person who said that to you? A lot of people of older generations use that type of wording. I still find it very derogatory for them to do that, though. A person's age doesn't give them a free pass to use that type of language.

^ My mother still calls people with Down syndrome "Mongoloid."

A dissenting opinion here.

Saying "folks who are mentally ill are not right in the head" is the same thing as saying "folks who are mentally are mentally ill".

Not only is it not derogatory it's a silly self-evident tautology. A tautology is something like saying "bachelors tend to be single". you're just describing something by part of its definition.

Instead of being offended you shoulda just laughed at the person for saying it. Like folks still laugh at Yogi Berra for saying "anyone who would go to psychiatrist should have their head examined!".

IMO it's about as derogatory as saying "people with broken bones are injured"



in other words, not at all.

Seems self-evidently true. It is, however, not the same as saying "people with mental illnesses are stupid."

Anybody, no matter their prevailing mental or neurological status, is not “right in the head” if they sell their mother’s TV to get drugs.

Even people without mental health issues can be "not right in the head" sometimes.

You only need to drive on the roads for 30 minutes to see that.......

People with mental illness who are medicated and follow treatment recommendations would likely be insulted. Anyhow, people say stupid crap like that to feel better about themselves or just aren't thinking when they speak.

I only say this if they treat me poorly and unfairly and accuse me of anything I didn't do or if they do something crazy or dangerous. Yes this has happened before. I say it about anyone who is deluded or have stupid thoughts and act like trolls because of what they believe so I think they must not be right in the head because who would be that stupid to think that? I wouldn't know if they have a mental illness. Like that lady who called 911 on a McDonalds being out of chicken Mcnuggets, that had to not be right in the head. That was just crazy and a waste of everyone's time. I wondered if she had an illness because could anyone be that stupid? People with mental illnesses do crazy things, to them it's logical but to the rest of the world it's not. My aunt washed her car naked when I was little because she didn't want to do any extra laundry. To her this was logical, to us this was not since nudity is illegal. But she thought it would be okay because she was mentally ill. It's just unPC to say someone isn't right in the head if they are mentally ill but yet it would be acceptable to say it about a sociopath or a narcissist or anyone who is mean and abusive or does drugs or has any Cluster B disorder or does rape and unknowingly admits to it and can't see they have done rape.