Use of the word "CRAZY"

It was recently brought up in another thread (the frantic efforts thread) that using the word crazy can be offensive, and it is generally a word people try to avoid using when being conscientious and respectful.

I was wondering, what are your guys thoughts on using the word?

I recently took an abnormal psych class and my professor brought up an interesting point. She purposely uses the word crazy to describe mental illness. She does it to help decrease the stigma of the word (and thus mental illness) and to reclaim it... much in the same way that the word "queer" has been reclaimed by the LGBT community (they switched it from being an insult to a word of liberation). And the same thing with the feminist community which reclaimed the word c*nt (apparently not enough to make it uncensored though).
However, she is still cautious to use the word crazy in the right audience.. an audience that could understand the political intention of the word.

Anyways... thoughts?

I prefer not to be called crazy. I dont want people to think I'm crazy because of the negativity attached to that word. I would say my life is crazy though

If people like you, they like you even if you are "crazy". If people don't like you, they don't like you still. The minority - the people who liked you before you were "crazy" - are usually not worth it.

LadyWolf wrote:I prefer not to be called crazy. I dont want people to think I'm crazy because of the negativity attached to that word. I would say my life is crazy though

Same. And it's only been used to single me out, to poke fun, not to actually try to understand whatever traits or behaviors I'm displaying. Not that people should center me and my feelings.

Er, my previous post was kind of reactionary. I do think that any group or person self-labeling as crazy is fine and that your professor does bring up a good point.

Entirely contextual.

When used as a figure of speech, it is one thing but, when used to label or to put somebody down, it is another.

Good:
"I've got a crazy idea!"
"We had a crazy time at the party last night."
"Stop acting crazy!"

Maybe:
"That's crazy talk!"
"You're crazy!"
(Depends on how well you are acquainted with the person.)


Bad:
"Crazy people."
"Crazier than a $hithouse rat!"

Worker 11811 wrote:Entirely contextual.

When used as a figure of speech, it is one thing but, when used to label or to put somebody down, it is another.

Good:
"I've got a crazy idea!"
"We had a crazy time at the party last night."
"Stop acting crazy!"

Maybe:
"That's crazy talk!"
"You're crazy!"
(Depends on how well you are acquainted with the person.)


Bad:
"Crazy people."
"Crazier than a $hithouse rat!"

But see, the issue with using the word crazy in the following contexts:
"Stop acting crazy!"
"That's crazy talk!"
"You're crazy!"

Even if it is meant in a friendly way.. it still holds within it the connotation that crazy is a bad/undesirable thing. Imagine the same sentences with the word "gay" instead of "crazy". It would still be offensive no matter how friendly the context was... And it is offensive because it is being used incorrectly, and with the connotation that it is bad...

I think to reclaim a word, and thus reduce the stigma surrounding the word and its meaning (in this case around mental illness), the word needs to be used in its original meaning. And by doing this, it can remove the stigma..

By referring to my mental illness as my "craziness" I am reclaiming the word.. removing the negativity of the word by saying "yes, I'm crazy...because I do have a mental illness... and there is nothing wrong with that.. it is just a fact... I just have to work on being healthy a bit harder than other people do."

By calling someone without a mental illness "crazy" just because they are acting wild or beyond social norms (even if you're calling them crazy in a friendly way), it is like calling someone who isn't homosexual "gay". There is nothing wrong with being gay or saying that someone is gay, as long as they actually ARE gay.. Whereas calling someone who isn't homosexual "gay" just because htey are acting a certain way, it becomes offensive...

I dont know.. Sorry if this has become a rant. I'm just tying to sort it all out for myself...

I've always used the phrase "we all have our own unique form of crazzies or craziness" and it applies to everyone on the planet. Its a good thing. Anyone who considers themself "normal" is deluded whats normal.

I personally don't think "crazy" is as stigmatized as it once was.

BTW I love ...
"As the spirit wanes the form appears"
-Bukowski-

I would reverse it though...
As the form wanes the spirit appears

whenlmeetsm wrote:BTW I love ...
"As the spirit wanes the form appears"
-Bukowski-

I would reverse it though...
As the form wanes the spirit appears

Thanks! And that's super interesting, I've never thought of reversing it. Its neat that it works both ways.

Being called crazy doesn't bother me one little bit.

If it's someone who knows my diagnosis, I go off on a racially-hurt rant about it. "Hey, that's our word. YOU can't use that word, only we can!" And then, since I'm white and can't really chant Rodney King, I usually give a Black Panther salute and say "Larry King, yo." Of course, all of this generally proves their theory right, that I am crazy.

If it's someone I don't know, I either give them a plain ol' "yup", or "you're not the first person to tell me that...today." No smile, no smirk, just yup.

Why did this whole thread make me think of the movie Crazy People?
http://youtu.be/2fIIqFpZdy0 (teeny bit of language in it, and not exactly politically correct)