#hallucinate

Sorry this took me a while to answer. I've been dealing with things in my life.

It absolutely can be. That word (not as an insult) just means experiencing psychosis which is a mental illness.

Psychosis is (quote) "when people lose some contact with reality" (end quote). It can be seeing and/or hearing things that other people cannot see and/or hear and/or believing things that are not actually true.

Other words that relate to psychosis that are ableist to just say are

Any version of the word "delusion" (like "delusions", "delusional")

Any version of the word "hallucination" (like "hallucinations", "hallucinate", "hallucinating")

The word "psychopath" (and "psychopaths" and "psychopathic") (the meaning of psychopath is basically just someone who experiences little to no empathy)

There's also the word "psycho".

If you use any of these words against or to describe someone who does not identify as such (or you don't know if they do), that's ableist.

This applies to people reclaiming that word and people who aren't.

If you know you cannot reclaim the word, using it to describe yourself is still ableist. If you're not sure if you can reclaim it, I feel using it is still ableist.

Meaning it in a not negative way in any of these contexts is ableist because you're stereotyping (which is harmful) and using a word that isn't or might not be yours to use. Also, using that word in everyday language and/or to describe someone who isn't psychotic can make it more difficult for people who are psychotic to get the resources, support, accommodations, and help they might need because (quote) "everyone says that" (end quote).

Meaning it in a negative way is ableist because you're villainizing a disability and painting it and everyone with it in a bad light. By doing so, you're also dehumanizing and invalidating people who experience psychosis.

The only times it's not ableist is when someone who's reclaiming it uses it to describe themself and when someone else (with consent) calls someone who's reclaiming it that word.