Why the stigma attached to the word "Disease"...

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I am not asking for a debate on whether or not Autism is a disease... we all have our views on that... and some are rather vehement... I am, however, wondering why people have such a negative view of the the word. I really do not understand this... Let's discuss...

here's a definition of disease:
1. a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
2.any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc.
3.any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease.
4.decomposition of a material under special circumstances: tin disease.


the word gives the impression that something is contagious.

For centuries "disease" meant trouble, not at anyone's fault but it was a matter of cleanliness to stay away from "diseased" people. So now, even with medical science being as developed as it is, people still attach the original stigma of "unclean" to it, even if they don't know why, or that they are even doing it.

Try as some of us might, the stigma is still too fresh in terms of medicine. Afterall, we only just started real medical advancements in terms of how long some of these diseases have been around. When asking this question, one must also ask "why a stigma to any difference? not just with percieved illness.", more often than not, you will find the answer you're looking for when you can answer that question.

The shortest answer: Ignorance.

In this, I suppose one could say that ignorance is the root of all stigma. Removing ignorance would in turn remove stigma of the subject by way of education.

For me the stigma of disease. For years neurotypicals have been trying to get me to confess that I am mentally ill. If I would apply for disability then I would be mentally ill by my own admission.

It is the connatation of the word not the denotation of the word that is the problem. People have tendency to assign emotional meaning to words not just the literal.

america especialy,has a very different use and perception of the word disease.
in the UK for example,disease is used to mean something on a par with illness;its aquired,has a progressive sort of path and has negative connotations when used with neurological or neurochemical based syndromes.
so whilst disease isnt used for autism in the UK,someone in america might not have issue with it because its widely used for major organisations,eg the CDC.

us versus them
they hate anyone that different
theirs no 'we' or 'our'

I have AS and ADHD diagnosed, However I have never really discussed it or researched about it. As for your question, I see that the media have a big part to play in misrepresentation of Asperger's syndrome. It's like if a crime is committed the first thing they will say is that the perpetrator has such and such a condition or syndrome instead of just relating the incident to a male or female.

The word disease tends to mean that you are sick, unwell, and not in good health.

We tend to think that if something is diseased then there is something wrong with it (generally visible as well).

We also tend to associate diseases with an agent that causes it (eg bacteria, virus, parasite, etc) that can be controlled or eliminated.

So we have centres of disease control and prevention such as your own CDC.

Also disease is associated with poor people and slums as these are seen as areas of high incidence of disease. Infact the greatest improvements in public health have been made by providing clean water and sanitation, not by medicine.

So if we describe something as diseased this is not a neutral term, but means their is something wrong with it, and it is not in good health.

Also I would suggest that the greatest fears are of infectious diseases, where we want to isolate those affected and not come in contact from them.

i have no idea

Why the issue?

Well personally - I am not defined by my weaknesses. That is what the word diseased is used for - to define a weakness. It is never used to define our strengths. Certainly it is never used to include both. To ignore one solely for the other ends in a biased and inaccurate assessment, in my opinion.

This is also the reason I would like to see a change in name (referring to the D in ASD) and a change in the diagnostic criteria reflecting these things.

Tweety pulled up a good example by one of the many definitions of disease:

Disease, disorder, condition... they are all the same. They are neutral words that define something. Society make us believe those are "bad" words, insults.

Use them as science words.

It is the history of the word 'disease' lends itself to negative meaning. I think it started with the Bubonic Plague where it nearly wipe out 2/3 of the population in the Middle Ages where it was so horrible that people were thrown out of cities and fled to other cities to escape the death. Which by the was spread disease to healthy communities. If whole segments of population wiped out by a disease it is reasonable to surmise that there negative emotion to the word. It is like word gay used to mean happy and now it means something else. Words meanings change over the centuries. With Disease=death is really makes people scared and nervous and they themselves don't want to get sick. This does not matter if the disease itself non-communicable or even genetic. It is form of societal leprosy.