Organizations like the National Association of Psychiatric Survivors (NAPS) in the later half of the 1980s came to think of the label of psychiatric consumers as a reformist but not truly liberatory term. NAPS critiqued the term psychiatric consumers for implying that there is not a power differential individual 'consumers' and psychiatric service providers without a recognition of how psychiatric services, including forced commitment, forced psychiatric evaluation, etc. are often leveraged by the state and individuals' family members as forms of harm and oppression.

Critique of Psychiatric Consumers

The term psychiatric consumer originated at the 1985 Alternatives Conference and was chosen to represent individuals who receive care from mental health and psychiatric services. It was chosen in part because it was meant to signify that patients have, or ideally should have, a choice of services and treatment.

The Alternatives Conference was a conference held in 1985 in Baltimore with funding from the Community Support Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. The conference had over 300 attendees. One of the goals of the conference was to come up with a name for individuals to call themselves after the term "ex-patient" had fallen out of favor. The term psychiatric/mental health consumer was chosen.

1985 Alternatives Conference

In this study - in particular the initial survey portion- being a person with mental disability was defined as someone who has received mental health care and/or a mental health diagnosis. Participants did not have to identify as disabled to participate in the survey and participants were informed that they could otherwise identify with terms like mental-health services consumer, a psychiatric survivor, a person with mental illness, a psychocrip, or as someone with their particular diagnosis. 

Person with Mental Disability

Also called psychological disorders, these are disorders rooted in mental thought patterns that impair the person's functioning, with specific disorders having their own disgnostic criteria. 

Mental Disorders/Mental Illnesses

Bluebird, Gayle. History of the Consumer/Survivor Movement. nd. Self-published. 

History of the Consumer/Survivor Movement

Psychiatric Consumer

The Community Support Program at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was set up in the early 1980s out of a realization by the federal government that there was a growing ex-patient movement that was operating successful programs outside of the psychiatric industrial complex without funding or outside support. The program was set up to provide funding for these alternative programs.

Community Support Program at the National Institute of Mental Health

The term of psychiatric survivor comes from the c/s/x movement and is meant to position individuals as survivors of the psychiatric system and psychiatric industrial complex.

Psychiatric Survivor

Price discusses that even though mental disability was broadly defined at the start of the survey to encompass individuals regardless of if they identified with the term disabled some participants took issue with questions that used the term mental disability and some participants noted that this usage of terminology impacted how they answered the questions.

Troubles with Language Choices

- Anxiety disorders
- Mood disorders 
- Psychotic disorders
- Personality disorders
- Eating disorders
- Sleep disorders
- Addiction
- Adjustment disorders

Categories of mental disorders/mental illnesses

Psychopathology is a term with a dual meaning. It refers to the scientific study of psychological disorders, which includes investigating their symptoms, etiology (causes), and potential treatments. Concurrently, the term can also describe the manifestation of a psychological disorder itself, meaning the abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that indicate its presence.

Psychopathology

Characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of developing a mental illness/disorder.
- Biophysical 
- Psychological 
- Social 
- Spiritual 

Protective Factors

Various health and life outcomes of mental disorders/mental illnesses. 

Mental Disorders/Mental Illnesses Outcomes

Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) describes the fear of anxiety-related symptoms that are often accompanied by hyperarousal, pain, stomach distress, and racing thoughts. Individuals experience physical and social fears alongside concerns for mental capability.

Anxiety Sensitivity

In this study, researchers collected data on healthy eating barriers which impact individuals suffering from mental illness. They found that participant's barriers towards a healthy lifestyle were modifiable and suggested helpful intervention techniques. 

Healthy Eating in Persons with Serious Mental Illnesses: Understanding and Barriers

The cause of comorbid Anxiety and Depression is debated within the scientific community. Adolescents experience comorbidity of Anxiety and Depression at rates ranging from 15.9%-61.9%.  

Comorbidity of Anxiety and Depression in Youth

Gender Dysphoria is characterized by the subjectively experienced distress that arises from the mismatch between gender identity, or internally felt sense of gender, and assigned sex at birth.

Gender Dysphoria

An emerging field which seeks to identify which dietary components are truly important for mental health, including in psychiatric disease, as well as to whom,
under which circumstances and at which specific dosages these nutritional interventions have preventative and therapeutic efficacy.

Nutrition Psychiatry

Factors that predispose adults and children to develop a mental disorder
- Biological 
- Psychological 
- Social 
- Spiritual 
- Cultural

Risk Factors for Developing a Mental Disorder

Neurological disorders are a specific type of disorder that occurs as a result of injury or trauma to the brain or central nervous system, consisting of the spinal cord and the connected nerves. Neurological disorders can impair movement and speech to various degrees, depending on the intensity and the specific type of neurological disorder. Neurological disorders can also occur as a result of genetic abnormalities and infections. Specific neurological disorders include cerebral palsy, ADD, and conversion disorder.

Neurological Disorders

References for Neurological Disorders

Ex-patient was used as a term starting in the 1970s by individuals in the growing ex-patients movement. The term was used at the time because of how madness and mad as derogatory terms were not yet reclaimed. It was used as an identity to indicate individuals who have previously been 
patients in asylums or other mental health systems.

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