Why do people use the terms mental illness and mental retardation interchangeably?

Question

Mental Retardation is still in the DSM

Answer 1

It is because of ignorance and miseducation coupled with the fact that both have the same word "mental" in both labels.

It is also due to the fact that various people view a Person With Mental Retardation as a "Crazy Person". If a person has a "Mental Illness", that person is also viewed as a 'Crazy Person".  Unfortunately, people who see or hear the term "Crazy Person" will lump both Mental Illness and Mental Retardation into one category.

Answer 2

I have no idea why as they are completely different.  I suppose because they both have the word mental in them.

Answer 3

retardation is not a word that is widely used any more a dont think, when it is used its used in the wrong context, if people had a care and thought before they spoke things would be different and less cruel, sum ppl may have difficulties, but that doesnt make them any less capable than anyone else

Answer 4

They are not comparable.

Mental illness refers to medically verifiable sickness. There are many different types of mental illness.

Mental retardation refers to intellectual deficiency - mild, moderate, or severe.

Answer 5

I think it's a matter of miseducation.  People don't know much about either, so they refer to them without knowing what's what.

Answer 6

Because it is still referred to as a mental problem. In Australia the term intellectual disability is used more widely. But I myself have had to clarify things.

I think it is probably through ignorance but it is also  due to the terminology. To be mental to most people brings up things related to mental illness. But mental retardation (which I believe is still it's proper medical name) is not an illness it is a condition which has many causes. An intellectual disability while being the same thing focuses on what the main problem is for someone with mental retardation which is that they have a lower IQ (Intellectual Quotient) than the average person.

Answer 7

I am not sure why they do this. They are clearly two different things. I think that it might be a lack of knowledge and ignorance. The term retardation is used very loosly so that also scrambles the meaning

Answer 8

I assume you mean some people.  I didn't realize that they did but suppose they simply don't know the difference.

Answer 9

Ignorance.

Answer 10

I will be honest here. The term "mental retardation" I hate with a passion and should not be used at all. However, the reason why the two are so often interchangeably is because society view people with disabilities, rather physically or mentally, as a group of people that lack the mentality to think for ourselves. So therefore, society has yet to realize that people with mental illnesses are not necessarily "mental retarded" and vice versa. They won't change their views of the disabled either until we take a stand and tell them "No more."

Answer 11

because they talk about the same thing and it sounds better than r****d r****d is an insult well at least it sounds like an insult some people dont consider it an insult but it sounds wrong to me

Answer 12

Because they don't know the difference.