Alex756 wrote:
This organization is a good place to start understanding what "mental health service consumers" or just "mental health consumers" (the terms used by most individuals who are or should be under some kind of treatment) have to deal with on a daily basis: http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=Living_With
That's the term that's used by most of us now? I had no idea that the consumerification of society had proceeded to such a degree!
Since I use psychiatric counseling and prescriptions for medication, technically I must agree that I am a "mental health service consumer". I don't see how I could be a "mental health consumer", however. But in any case, I don't generally identify myself with such terms. More relevant, IMO, is that: firstly, I have a mental illness (even more relevant is which one I have, since they vary greatly); and, secondly, that in my case it is well treated. Only in relatively specialised contexts does it become relevant that I receive services in order to obtain this treatment (although that would be a reasonable guess).
-- Toby