ABSTRACT
Multiple experiments have confirmed that when presented with a “patient” or a “prospective patient,” mental health professionals are considerably more likely to “diagnose the presence of a mental disorder". Sufferers who come in looking for mental health services shouldn’t be labeled as patients. First, the transaction is not a genuinely medical one, even if so-called “drugs” are often prescribed. Second, nonmedical personnel like psychologists, counselors, clinical social workers, and family therapists should not have “patients.” Third, the word stigmatizes the individual for no legitimate reason. If “patient” carries a tangle of meanings having to do with illness, “client” looks to come with a tangle of meanings having to do with economic class. A person’s unwillingness to participate in reducing his own emotional distress coupled with a therapist’s wish to take it easy on him when dealing with uncooperative clients leads mental health professionals to this exact moment in history of mental health.
