Psycho. Crazy. Schizo. Bipolar.

There may have been times when you have used words like these when referring to the latest episode of your favorite television show, describing a party, or even just unpredictable weather. You also could have used them to describe an obsessive ex or a teacher you did not like.

In today’s political climate, psychiatric terms are thrown around flippantly, mostly in reference to public figures. For example, many people in the media describe President Trump as “insane” or will say a different politician is “off his meds.”

Using words like “crazy,” “psycho,” or “insane” in casual, everyday speech — whether used as just throwaway adjectives or as insults — can be deeply harmful to those who live with these mental illnesses.

People with conditions such as psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or multiple personality disorder are living all around us. They are our family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Despite the association of these illnesses with violence and unpredictability, millions of Americans each year live normal lives outside of an institution, managing their symptoms through medication and therapy.

This kind of language not only trivializes mental illness, but also substitutes people’s real life experiences for stereotypes or horror clichés and strips them of their humanity.

Through casual repetition, we have assimilated these words into our everyday speech. Words like “crazy” have become almost second nature, and they have lost their original meaning through time and consistent use. But no matter how many definitions these words develop over time, they will always be linked back to the mentally ill.

You could be using these words without even be thinking about their origin. But ultimately, if this language is stigmatizing people with severe mental illnesses, then the amount of thought behind these terms is irrelevant. It is about the impact of our language, not the intention.

These words reinforce dangerous stereotypes about the mentally ill: that they are scary, murderous, and unstable. This can seriously damage a person’s chance for recovery and discourages them from getting help. Reducing their struggles to a disinhibited, petulant, and malicious caricature is insulting to the people that live with that burden every day.

Words have power. The right words spoken by the right people can influence our cultural trends and reinforce social power dynamics. Changing our language alone will not fix the stigma, but it is a good place to start. It starts from the ground up. Rethinking the way we reference mental illness in casual speech has the power to change the way view these issues on a larger scale.

This is not about policing language or banning certain words. It is about making the decision to be conscious about our speech and altering our verbal habits to be more sensitive. In addition, using alternatives to terms such as “insane” or “psycho” is likely to make you more specific, descriptive, and an overall better communicator.

The casual and damaging use of psychiatric terms creates an oppressive and even dangerous environment for people with mental illnesses, many of whom are already struggling to establish their humanity, identity, and self-worth in a society that devalues their voices. When these disorders are used to tear people down, it confirms our culture’s bias about what being crazy really means: threatening, unstable, and barely human.