>I think a bigger problem is that people are fixated on word definitions and offending others instead of solving problems. I agree, and this is pretty much una

>I think a bigger problem is that people are fixated on word definitions and offending others instead of solving problems. I agree, and this is pretty much unavoidable when the current clinical term is vague enough to be used as a generic insult. The general pattern I see 1. A vague term is used to describe symptoms of an issue we have a poor understanding of. 2. That term becomes associated with the symptoms, but is vague enough to be used as a generic insult (ex: playground school children yelling it at each other) 3. That term develops a stigma as an insult, and becomes more and more controversial 4. That term is replaced with a new term, rinse and repeat. We've seen this before ex: Moron, Imbecile, and Retard all once had vague clinical meanings. Then we went to mentally challenged, special needs, etc. Now even those are fairly loaded terms. In all of these cases, the word/phrase describes something that people would rather not have or be, but it does it without clarity. It will develop a stigma. I find the folks who constantly advocate for changing these names well-intentioned, but basically a waste of time.