The fact that they have to keep changing the names of mental disorders because they always degenerate into slurs tells you plenty about people's attitudes toward mental illnesses.

No goz, I agree with leweb. Think of how it was ok to say 'retard' (just means slow in french). That was brought in to be less hurtful. Then it became hurtful and an insult in common society.

http://www.globaldownsyndrome.org/about-down-syndrome/words-can-hurt/

Well, what words can you actually use? Phrases? Frankly, and it should be obvious by now, "differently-abled" will simply come to mean something derogatory within a few years.

It's a losing battle and one that will never be won. Advocates want a word that means 'normal' and 'average' while at the same time pointing out a difference. Does not compute. You can't have that.

Any words you choose to differentiate that condition or thing will come to characterize that thing and have whatever connotations are normally associated with that thing or condition. You can change the label as often as you wish, but the referent remains recognizably the same and different from the norm or average. Just gets a new label every generation or two.

That's not a bad idea...