The, our multicultural young adult advisory board.
And this is our Minnesota.
In our third episode,
we talk about how language is heavily intertwined with
labels, diagnosis, identities, and our culture
That, and what para was talking about in terms of gate keeping,
cuz we were earlier just talking about how,
like sometimes I don't feel like I'm not non-binary enough
and it's similar to mental health who gets to decide what
you're experiencing or what you identify as.
And there's like,
I just wanna make a very different distinction about how society perceives you
and identities related to that, which is like race like that.
No, like, I don't, those are like completely,
obviously different things from like gender or sexuality
or um, mental health,
which is purely based on like your experiences.
So I feel like in terms of those identities,
like now I it's like I see mental health as something that,
through this conversation.
Now I'm thinking if like how similar it is to my other identities
that are purely based out of my experiences.
And like what Chanel said,
my queerness is going to look so different from anyone else's queerness journey.
And who's to say like I'm queer, but you are not.
Or like I'm more queer than you.
So if I'm like having certain symptoms of like neuro
divergence or, um, depression or something,
and there isn't a person like a therapist or a psychologist to
label me and like justify quote unquote,
my experience does that,
does that make me not sad or not depressed or not neuro divergent,
but also there is like reasons why there are experts
and professionals who study these for years and have credentials.
So this is complicated. It's hard.
Well,
I think that circles us all the way back to the beginning of this conversation,
right. With, you know, the, the internet diagnosis,
the like I went on a Reddit thread and it told me I have this. Right.
And it's like, okay,
so maybe by expert standards you do, or you don't mm-hmm,
like maybe you meet the criteria or you don't meet the criteria,
but like, what is it that you're really trying to say? You know,
like what, what is the thing that you were like,
this is so quirky and I just need to know that other people also do this or also
experience this. And if,
if you interpret that experience as something like,
if that is something that is causing you suffering or is making things difficult
for you, like regardless of whether or not it fits into, you know,
BP D or O C D or whatever, dissociated,
like regardless of whether or not it fits into those boxes, like,
what is this trait that you have that you're, you know,
that is causing you this problem and like, how do you need to be supported?
And it really comes back to that issue.
And then that also opens up the conversation for things that do include more
like cultural components and that are more a circumstances of like
where you live and who you grew up with. And it allows for, you know,
that kind of, um, a,
a work around to that language barrier of like, okay, so, you know,
maybe in my community, we don't have a word for this,
but we do have a word for this. And this is what I need support with.
And like kind of opening up that conversation and making it wider than just this
black and white, like, this is what mental health professionals say,
because on the one hand,
like we don't want this world where everyone can just diagnose themselves with
everything. And then nothing really like has meaning anymore.
And people who are really struggling, aren't validated. But on the other hand,
like if you feel bad,
you feel bad and it may not be because of the mental health disorder,
but that doesn't mean that you deserve to feel bad. And we can't talk about it.
You know, even therapists need therapists.
I see my therapist when I've had a great month and I really don't need to talk
to her about trauma. Like, because it doesn't hurt to check in sometimes,
you know? So that's, I just,
just really like thinking about how we can be more intentional in our language
around mental health, about like,
not boxing things off and like really digging into the like, okay,
so you feel you have this, but what does that mean? Like,
what do you need from me?
Do you need me to just listen to you talk about it and how you feel affirmed now
that you've discovered this thing?
Or is there something I can be doing to better support you with what you are for
you are like those like sort of more EIC symptoms that you're really struggling
with? Like, how can I help?
Um, I just wanted to go back to something that Pedro mentioned about, uh,
the power that English language holds in mental health.
And it has a lot to do with the fact that most research is done in English
speaking populations and it's published in English, right?
So for people that don't speak English as their native language,
it can be pretty hard to express or to fit in this categories because maybe the
words you're using for your depression are not the words that an English speaker
or a native speaker would use.
And how does that put you if you need a diagnosis or if you need treatment.
So there is another,
there is a whole other like layer to that for non non-English
speakers or not native speakers. I also,
as far as like gate keeping language,
I feel like that manifests on a lot of different levels, definitely.
In terms of like who is allowed to use certain labels who is allowed to assign
or receive certain labels,
but also in this notion that I feel like a lot of society has that
language is immovable. That like,
the way that we speak today is the way that we will speak in 20 years is the way
that we will speak when the human species goes extinct. Like the,
that language will absolutely never change. And that isn't true, right?
Like we don't talk the way that Romeo and Juliet spoke,
even though we speak the same language and like, why would we want to? But like,
I, I think, um,
that's where a lot of people with like when it comes to pronouns,
the use of pronouns,
I think that's where a lot of people start to feel resistant is that they feel
like we are integrating language,
that isn't part of English,
the English as they speak, or that as they understand it,
or as has been true in, in their lifetime. But the reality is that,
like the words that that person who is now resistant to using pronouns,
the words that that person used 20 years ago are not the word that that person
uses today.
And there's no reason why we have to view language as like
an entity that does not change as like our
understanding of diverse human experiences also
change. And that's not to say that these are new experiences, right?
Like it's not to say that the reason that we are starting to talk about pronouns
VO like vocally now is because non-binary folks or
transgender folks only exist in this time. That's not true, right?
Like people of all identities have existed. As long as humans have been alive.
It's just a question of like, whether or not there has been an option.
And for marginalized folks,
generally a like way into a system that has like definitively tried
to exclude them in order to allow them to influence language in any meaningful
way,
language is created and upheld by like the same sorts of systems
that continually work to oppress the people who,
who like are trying to make themselves and their identities and their
experiences seen.
And this is like particularly powerful time in that it like is finally a moment
in which I think a lot of us though, we still have a long way to go.
Also feel like we are now capable of influencing language in a way
that people in power have been able to do for millennia, but that we never have.
I want to thank everyone who joined this conversation and shared their
lovely perspectives and personal experiences.
And I also wanted to thank the listeners who joined in into our conversation
about language and how it impacts us in everyday life,
including our mental health. And I hope to see you in our next episode,