Hey, you know a word I hate? “Psycho.”
Not only is it an insult, but it’s a major contributor to the morass of ignorance and sloppy thinking that makes all kinds of mental illness so stigmatized.
I mean. What are you actually talking about? Are you referring to someone with a psychosis? Or someone with psychopathy? Or maybe someone currently suffering a psychotic break? They’re all fucking different things. And there’s pretty much no end of damage caused by the fact that folks can just throw this word out there and conveniently conflate “person with a serious and potentially debilitating mental illness” with “someone diagnosed as a potential murderer.”*
But no, right? They’re just ‘a psycho,’ which for added fun is just as likely to be applied to a woman who’s rightfully pissed off at some dude being an asshole.
* Not that most psychopaths** ever actually murder anyone or commit any actual physical violence, although to be fair they do tend to be pretty toxic personalities. But it makes writing supervillains so much easier, I guess.
** Never mind the fact that psychologists are currently arguing over whether ‘psychopathy’ even exists as an actual personality disorder or if it’s more of a sub-type under multiple other personality disorders.
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