Ok To Say Plagued With Mental Illness?

[Indysoda]

Is it derogatory to say that someone is “plagued” with mental illness?

[choux]

I would prefer to say (in the hope it shows more understanding):
troubled with, or affected by, or suffered with.

[Mozz71]

There are better phrases, as choux has detailed, but I wouldn't say it was derogatory.

[youngmafbog]

No, it is not. It gives a good to the point description and doesn't fanny about the edges.

[Stickybottle]

Maybe beset is a better word

[wolf63]

Tormented - is a very apt description

[LadyCG]

Afflicted?

[elliemay1]

I see nothing wrong with using the word 'plagued'. To anyone suffering from it, it is a plague

[Canary42]

Not derogatory, just plain wrong. A plague is something infectious which ravages its way through a community - no evidence exists to date that mental illness is at all infectious.

[naomi24]

Yes, it is ok. Look at synonyms for ‘plagued’. I can’t post a link. People who pussyfoot around with words very often end up climbing up their own bottoms.

[douglas9401]

That may depend on the particular mental illness, Canary.

Have a look on here most days for example, you'll find all sorts adopting strange ways of thinking just to fit in.

[AuntPG]

You are using the Adjective 'Plagued' which means constantly afflicted or relentlessly attacked (by someone or something). So it is appropriate and not derogatory.

The Plague is a noun describing a specific disease.

[pastafreak]

Canary, it's not wrong as the definition of plague is certainly not about a specific disease only...

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/plagued

[Mamyalynne]

If the word correctly describes the person you are talking about then it's fine - it wouldn't be a catch-all for all who have experienced mental illness.

[jno]

pasta, plague is both a more or less medical term and a popular metaphor. I'm inclined to think that in a context of discussing health it should be used as correctly as possibly. Plagued by mosquitoes or traffic or whatever, but not by flu or Covid - it just sounds odd. Not derogatory, though.

[choux]

Indysoda, I see from an earlier thread you submitted that English is not your first language. You may be finding some of the answers here a little confusing.

The word "plagued" is not derogatory, but as you can see several of us prefer different options. It may be a question of how much someone suffers from mental illness. wolf63 has said "tormented" and there is nothing wrong nor derogatory about that word.

In short, you will just need to pick a word that you are happy with :)

[pixie374]

I wouldn't say it's derogatory, but it's very individual. If you are speaking to or about someone in particular, I would use whichever words they do to describe it.
I wouldn't like it particularly myself, as it isn't accurate for me.
Nowadays, it's more usual to just say "has" and let people describe for themselves. For instance, officially, people haven't been described as "suffering" from dementia, Downs, autism... and so on, for decades. Just "has". It saves too much presumption.