The danger of labels

The easiest time to cure an illness is before it is accepted as a part of the self-image.
Jane Roberts
1929 – 1984

From time to time, we all have labels assigned to us. Some are helpful; some are not. Take a moment to think of some of the ways you’ve been labeled: you might be a baby boomer, Generation X, or a millenial; single, married, divorced or widowed; a graduate of high school or college; a white collar or blue collar worker; and so on.

Labels can be helpful when they condense information down to one or two words. But they can also be misleading and even harmful. Let me give you an example: when you hear that someone is disabled, how does that affect your estimation of their abilities? More to the point, how do you think they view themselves?

When we hear that someone is blind, do we picture a person able to hold a challenging job as an engineer at Microsoft? Probably not. When we read about someone born with deformed legs, do we picture a successful model and world class athlete? Again, it’s unlikely. But we’d be wrong. Examine the book Blind Ambition by Patricia Walsh or watch the TED talk by Amiee Mullins and you’ll see that disabled doesn’t mean limited. Unfortunately, far too many people internalize the disability label and allow themselves to be held back by it.

There are plenty of other harmful labels as well. A few weeks ago, I was talking with another professional and she mentioned that she had a child who was a drug addict. What message does the term “addict” imply?

In his book The MindBody Code, Dr. Mario Martinez said, “…if your diagnosis is ‘addiction’, your ‘disease’ status frees you from authorship; you are responsible for your substance abuse only until your behavior is diagnosed. You are given medical permission to be diseased without hope of a cure.” When we label someone a drug addict or an alcoholic, the message we send is that they no longer have control over their behavior. How can a person be expected to change and improve if they’re being told they have a medical condition outside of their control? The label is actually counterproductive to effective treatment.

Use caution with the labels you put on people, including yourself. Be particularly wary of labels that place limitations on you or that shift the responsibility for your actions. Any label that inhibits your growth and well-being isn’t a helpful one.

The ‘self-image’ is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self image and you change the personality and the behavior.
Maxwell Maltz
1889 – 1975

Copyright © 2015 John Chancellor

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