What's in a name? Let's keep asking

Abstract

The names we call each other stir passions, as we see from two recent commentaries on naming in psychiatry. Pamela Hyde, Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, urges us to use terms that recognize the many individualized paths to recovery people with mental illnesses follow. Fuller Torrey urges us to call people with schizophrenia "patients." This commentary suggests that, by respecting the preferences of those being named, clinicians may enhance engagement in treatment and demonstrate respect for people as individuals beyond the label of a disease. © The Author 2009.