My husband and I both have a diagnosis of BP Type II, he was diagnosed about 8 years ago and I about 4 years ago. We've been married 16 years.
We just stumbled on this HealthCentral site and were pretty impressed until we got to this page: Mental Illness/Retardation Health Center
Really? Isn't there enough of a stigma?? My husband has really struggled with his diagnosis because of that stigma. It has made his treatment that much harder and every setback that much more devastating. He has recently just started to see how much havoc this illness has brought to him and to us and really make some strides in working with his pdoc and then he sees this header and he just shut down!
To be fair minded however, I am willing to bet that this is simply an oversight. Perhaps it was a first attempt or a lapse in what appears to be otherwise good judgement regarding mental illness, based on what I have seen elsewhere here.
HealthCentral, I urge you to re-name the page. While I am sensitive and sympathetic to those who are challenged by retardation, mental illness is not in the same category. Not by a long shot.
Where I live, the county has a center that is called "T.C. Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center." It is where they provide professionals, counseling and medication and such things as daycare for their clients. I don't think the name was intended to lump all mental health issues into one or to perpetuate stigma, I think it is more a relic left over from when disabilities were simply called what they were known as at the time. Before "mentally disabled, we were"retarded," and before that we were called "idiots." Before "bipolar" we were known as Manic Depressive. Before Dissociative Identity Disorder we were known as having Multiple Personalities. But I agree with you that the name of the center should be updated perhaps to just "Mental Health Services." Seems like that would cover it all w/o stigma attached.