Introduction
In this section we will focus on what you need to do and learn about before you start a mental health placement for the first time and what to revise if you were returning to different mental health settings.
Language is a concept that has important implications for people who have used mental health services and mental health professionals. As you progress through the book this will become increasingly apparent as you learn about the importance of being able to develop and sustain hopeful and empowering relationships with people who experience mental health problems and how barriers to this can be created by inequalities in power and prejudice. Within mental health practice and the literature, policy and evidence supporting this practice, you may see people who have direct experience of mental health problems referred to in a number of ways, whether this be as a patient, client, consumer or service user. It is important to highlight that each one of these terms has their specific advantages and disadvantages. There is a lack of agreement among people who experience mental health problems, professionals and policy makers about what the most appropriate language to adopt is. Throughout this book the authors have opted to use the term ‘service users’ for consistency, and this term also includes people who have experienced mental health problems and people who have used mental health services.