Thanks for your reply Mindysan. I want to clarify that I definitely don’t think the rule should be scrapped, just that it leaves open this other way to stigmatize mental illness, by only allowing behavior to be attributed to character.
I’m just talking about pointing out that someone may be mentally ill, not saying “that person is schizo”.
Again, I think it’s a good rule! The problem, and I don’t think it’s an insignificant one, is that the way it’s worded, it’s okay to watch a video of someone having a psychotic break (I’m saying this hypothetical person IS having the break, not that I think they are) and call that person an asshole but not to say maybe they’re behaving that way because they’re ill.
Actually, the rule says Do not make assumptions as to anyone’s mental state. I guess the problem as I see it is that when you say someone is a jerk or worse, you ARE making an assumption about their mental state; you’re assuming that they are mentally sound and therefore bear the full blame for their action. Any comment attributing behavior to character makes an assumption about mental state.
