Use Person First Language in Mental Health Settings**

General Rules to Speak, Write, Respect and Empower By Having vs. Being

To HAVE an illness, or to have the diagnosis of an illness, is notably different than to BE the illness. When I “have bipolar illness,” I recognize that aspect of myself, much as I recognize that I “have brown eyes.” When I “am bipolar,” I take on the identity of BEING bipolar. It becomes me, and I become it. When we talk about an individual as separate from their mental health condition, we recognize the person first, and we acknowledge the person’s power to overcome that condition and live a full life separate from it. I often tell people, “I may have it, but it doesn’t have me!”

**Taken from Illinois DHS/Division of Mental Health Document