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Monica Zolezzi1 ,† Shahd Abubaker Elamin,1 Oraib Abdallah,2 Yassin Eltorki,2 Turfa Alhathal,3 Esraa Maklad,4 Noriya Alkhuzaie2 1College of Pharmacy, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 2Mental Health Services, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 3Aisha Bint Hamad Al-Attiyah Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 4Pharmacy Clinical Services Unit, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar†Prof Monica Zolezzi passed away on June 29th, 2025Correspondence: Shahd Abubaker Elamin, College of Pharmacy, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar, Email Shahd.elamin@qu.edu.qaBackground: Biased healthcare documentation adversely impacts patient outcomes, by affecting providers’ perceptions. Identifying stigmatizing language is crucial for appropriate workforce training.Purpose: To identify, describe, and compare language patterns used in medical records of individuals with mental illness.Methods: Patient encounters within the sole Qatari mental health governmental provider were randomly selected. Rich-text notes documented by any of eight eligible healthcare fields, written October–December/2021, and taking place during outpatient, inpatient, or community-homecare encounters were analyzed qualitatively for positive and negative language, and quantitatively for the percentage of notes with language types/subtypes. Association between language and patient/provider characteristics was tested using Goodness-of-fit chi2 and Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate.Results: Of 300 notes, most included potentially stigmatizing language (62.7%). Disability-first and inappropriate treatment-related language were the top isolated subtypes (33.22% and 31.31% of negative notes, respectively). Similarly, 66.67% of notes incorporated positive statements, mainly personalized language (44%). Positive language was statistically associated with specialty, age, diagnosis, discipline, setting, and patient’s first language. Stigmatizing language was statistically associated with setting, physician level, and discipline.Conclusion: Content analysis of mental health notes highlighted comparable use of positive and negative language. These findings urge policymakers and educators to advocate for recovery-oriented mental health documentation.Keywords: stigmatizing language, recovery-oriented practice, clinical documentation, healthcare communication, person-centered care