They are, in fact, equal however there are no protections within the language and systems to allows the use of the language of mental illness to have nonstigmatised and perjorative tones. So I thought I might change the word for normal when used in the context of mental illness.
Automoton perjoratises normal. It has connotations of robot-like humanity. Small micromachines perfect for the engine of mass production. Formed as emotionless and reliable beings the suit the system.
No passion. No pain. No creativity. No obsession. No courage nor heart. They function as supplicant slaves to a system which calls those who are different mentally ill.
The concept tries to make normality something stigmatised. It balances the stigma of language in mentsal health.
In doing so it is a powerful tool of language to help self stigma. I admit my own self stigma was very high. I hated being mad. It has been an 8 year journey of change in this respect and there are still traces.
Until you have to face being different a lot of people without saying it assume they're normal - whatever that means to them.
So the concept, once worked on, would create a balanced view of mental illness and normality with a lean towards goals of reducing self stigma. It gave me something to rant about too.
So why is it wrong? It reinforces the divide. It works within the concepts of difference, not equality. It seeks to judge another person based on nothing but a label. It is a mistruth, though with laudable truths.
As scientific or useful concepts neither madness nor automotonness are scientific or useful. Mirroring the divide doesn't help the root cause.
In my opinion the root cause is the unappreciated value of mental illness and the mentally ill inextricably entwinned with the label of madness (or whatever).
Automoton perjoratises normal but does nothing good for the truth: equality.
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