Definitions: Survivor

The following are a handful of terms used by disability advocates when speaking about individuals with mental illness and the quality of mental health care they receive from any number of sources. When I heard each for the first time myself, I had to track down the definitions and have since heard many more advocates ask regarding the same.

For each term, some of which are used regularly within Six. Almost Seven.., I have found what I think is an appropriate, easy-to-read link from various recognizable sources across the Internet.

What is a survivor?

To be a survivor is:

Definition source: Dictionary.com

ACSO The word survivor is only appropriate here in as much as one considers that, in the early stages of recovery, assuming that recovery is even possible, surviving can and frequently does mean hanging on to Life by the very barest of spider silk threads..

What is a psychiatric survivor?

According to the UK's Foundation for Persons with Learning Disabilities Wordbank, psychiatric survivor is terminology used to represent someone who has been through and survived a mental health care system. The Foundation also states that a psychiatric survivor is usually highly critical of the system they have survived.

ACSO The given in this particular definition would be that it is true as long as the damage done by the system still allows the survivor the wherewithal to even have a voice with which to speak..

What is a psych(e) survivor?

Psych survivor, also being seen regularly across the Internet as psyche survivor is a slightly more casual version of psychiatric survivor as defined directly above. Judgments in how it should be spelled also find the variation, psych survivor used widely across the Internet..

What is a consumer survivor?

Consumer survivor currently "appears" to be being used to describe those having experiences similar to the psychiatric survivor but without having necessarily been into the hospital. If the truth be told, at this point, it is not unusal to see any of the above interchangeably applied to any one individual.

Always more to learn..

Since it is the general nature of language to evolve as communication and, more importantly, awareness of self does, there will always be other terms and definitions to learn..

..Definitions ··»

Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan..

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