The words we use become the stories people carry.  

This topic keeps coming back to me lately: language.

Not just in mental health conversations, but in the way we describe people more broadly. The same person can be described as: “lazy” or exhausted, “difficult” or overwhelmed, “unmotivated” or struggling with executive functioning, “too sensitive” or chronically dysregulated.

Sometimes the label tells us more about the observer than the person being described.

What especially interests me is how quickly behaviour becomes moralised. We often interpret functioning through character rather than cognition, stress, environment, nervous system state, or lived experience.

And once certain labels become attached to someone — particularly early in life — they can shape expectations, relationships, opportunities, and even identity itself.

Interestingly, this conversation is also becoming more visible in the literature. “Toward Neurodiversity-Affirming Language for ADHD” explores the argument that language does not simply describe ADHD — it actively shapes how ADHD is understood, researched, and responded to socially and clinically. The authors encourage researchers and clinicians to move toward more reflective, non-pathologising, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches to language.

I think this extends beyond ADHD. Language influences who receives compassion, who receives support, who is seen as capable, and who becomes reduced to a label.

Reference:

Toward Neurodiversity-Affirming Language for ADHD
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/397614620_Toward_Neurodiversity-Affirming_Language_for_ADHD