Christina Sparrock, founder of the New York City Mental Health Collective and chair of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso\u2019s Maternal Health Task Force, has pushed for a language change for more than a decade. She has advocated for recovery-oriented language that promotes dignity, respect and humanity.<\/p>\n
Sparrock, who is also a peer, was thrilled to see that the legislation, introduced by state Sen. Samra Brouk and Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman, replacing the term EDP with compassionate, person-first language, was finally signed into law.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, [the term] \u2018EDP\u2019 has contributed to the stigma and dehumanization of people with mental health conditions, and individuals are often judged by the labels society assigns them, leading to more trauma,\u201d Sparrock told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cThis shift to humane language is a step toward equity, and I\u2019m excited to see the work I\u2019ve fought so hard for finally come to fruition. Language matters \u2014 now, let\u2019s make this a national movement!\u201d<\/p>\n
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NYCMH founder Christina Sparrock said language mattered when addressing mental health concerns. File photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n
Sheina Banatte, managing director of Advocacy Justice for the Eudes Pierre Coalition, is the cousin of Eudes Pierre<\/a>, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Pierre was shot 10 times and killed by NYPD officers on Dec. 20, 2021, while the 26-year-old Crown Heights resident and CUNY College of Staten Island student was experiencing a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n Banatte told Brooklyn Paper that the first time she heard the term EDP was when she watched footage from the police officer\u2019s body-worn camera that recorded the encounter between her cousin and the NYPD.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficers knew Eudes Pierre was in an apparent mental health crisis, but they reduced him to that experience. His humanity was disregarded. Eudes was not seen as a person first nor given dignity,\u201d Banatte said.<\/p>\n Banatte said the new law will encourage person-first language at a time when the mental health community and its allies are advocating to remove police as first responders to mental health crisis calls.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, this will reduce the stigma, reduce the shame, and provide more compassion,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n Ruth Lowenkron, director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, helped craft the language for the legislation. Lowenkron said language is critical when addressing individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what\u2019s hugely offensive is when it becomes abbreviated as EDP. Now we\u2019ve reduced you to three letters as to who you are,\u201d Lowenkron said. \u201cI really think the language we use is critical. It informs our thinking, and getting the right term can inform the thinking of the police \u2014 if they have a better term, that will help determine how they act.\u201d<\/p>\n James Mutton, associate executive director of NYC Operations for Concern Housing, a nonprofit agency that provides housing and support services for the city\u2019s most vulnerable residents, said mental health remains \u201cthe final taboo,\u201d still fraught with stigma.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be able to have a system that\u2019s compassionate, that\u2019s responsive, and that has the ability to pivot with that right language in mind,\u201d Mutton said.\n<\/p>\n Changing terminology, however, is only one part of addressing mental health crisis calls in New York.\n<\/p>\n A coalition of civil rights and mental health organizations is pushing for the passage of Daniel\u2019s Law,<\/a> named after Daniel Prude<\/a>, who died in March 2020 in Rochester, New York, after being restrained by police while experiencing a mental health crisis. Prude died of asphyxiation after officers placed a hood over his head and pinned him to the ground.<\/p>\n If passed, the law would ensure that mental health crises are treated as a public health issue rather than a public safety threat, and it would remove police as first responders to such emergencies.<\/p>\n Instead, first responders would include mental health peers, mental health professionals and emergency medical technicians trained to provide trauma-informed and culturally competent care. Daniel\u2019s Law would also create a statewide council of mental health experts to develop de-escalation training, establish rules and provide resources for mental health emergencies. Those efforts would be integrated into the 988 crisis line and other emergency dispatch services.<\/p>\n Lowenkron pointed out that peer-led and EMT response programs such as Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets<\/a> (CAHOOTS) in Oregon have had a strong track record, noting that in the 35 years CAHOOTS has operated, there have been zero fatalities. By contrast, in New York City alone, 21 people experiencing a mental health crisis have been killed in the past nine years.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just such a stark statistic that it\u2019s hugely influential to us,\u201d Lowenkron said.\n<\/p>\n