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Andrew O’Hehir’s review of Norah Vincent “Self-Made Man” was as interesting as I hope the book to be when I pick it up – all the more reason I was disappointed by his tired stereotype (which is a downright myth) that schizophrenia is some form of split personality. While it’s a common enough error for journalists to use the word schizophrenia to describe a paradox or “split personality” – it’s sloppy and all the more disturbing when placed alongside the use of the word “loony bin” in the review’s headline. Is a pediatric ward of a hospital a “rugrat bin”? Is a cancer ward a “tumor bin”? Stigmatizing language like this makes an otherwise good review unintentionally reveal a few of the author’s own prejudices.
