Would anyone who is mentally ill care to share their thoughts on the appropriateness of being called "special"? I'm not even mentally ill as far as I know. I've been to "family counselors" and they never brought the possibility up for discussion. I had a brief discussion over the phone with a mental health professional about a possible mental deficiency that I've been labeled with by my sibling, and they said I didn't sound at all like I had it.

I have a "successful" sibling who prides themselves on being an overachiever and doing everything the right and proper way in life, and they've taken to identifying me as having a mental deficiency since I'm not "successful" in life by their definition. They recently pointed at me and used the term "special" to address me in a group of strangers after I committed a harmless faux pas, not as a kidding joke, but supposedly to save me from some hassle or embarassment. They treated the incident as a smoking gun for my alleged mental deficiency. Does anyone else have a problem with being called "special"?