As someone who has mental illnesses I thought that I'd let you guys know what some, if not most, people with mental illnesses don't really care about language like 'mad' or 'crazy' and would rather people just say what they have to say rather than treading on eggshells around us - we don't really wanna be treated any differently just because of our mental illnesses/disorders
Lee says:
That’s a totally valid way to feel about it!
We still ask that people don’t use ableist language in their asks because while you and some other mentally ill and disabled people are okay with ableist language, not everyone is, and we’d like our blog to be a space where all of our followers can feel comfortable.
Ren says:
A great deal of the initial push on this blog to make a no-tolerance policy for ableist language came from me, back when TST was still active. I’m mentally ill and neurodivergent in the ways that are most often hurt by ableist language, often literally violently! Although there are many mentally ill and learning / developmentally / cognitively (LDC) disabled folks who are not affected by these words, there are a great deal of us who are frequently and painfully oppressed by the use of this kind of language.
Not only does that language hurt many of us, but it is also deeply rooted in systemic ableism, and no organization I am part of will refuse to fight ableism, especially on our own turf. I am absolutely sure that the other mods here feel the same way.
Although I support & agree with Lee’s answer fully (thank you Lee!!), I wanted to add on this further clarification, and I also wanted to remind you that nearly all of us on the mod team are mentally ill and/or LDC disabled - we are, by and large, a team of neurodivergent folks, and we have our policies for good reason.