Do you ever call yourself 'special needs' or 'autistic'?

Nearly half of UK adults (49%) are wrongly describing themselves as having a mental health condition or developmental disorder, potentially harming employees who do experience them, according to research from BUPA.

The survey found that many use words such as ‘schizophrenic’, ‘special needs’ and ‘autistic’ to describe themselves, despite not experiencing the conditions.

Looking across the genders, the research shows that women are more likely to misuse mental health descriptors to describe themselves (55%), but men and those aged under 35 were most likely to use the same phrases in a pejorative sense.

The research raises concerns around mental health terms being trivialised, which could impact employees’ seeking mental health or developmental needs support in the workplace.