So according to the mongoose docs, you are supposed to be able to set a custom error message in the schema like so:
var breakfastSchema = new Schema({ eggs: {
verificationToken.save( function (err) { if (err) { return res.status(400).send({ message: (err.name === 'MongoError' && err.code === 11000) ? 'Email already exists !' : errorHandler.getErrorMessage(err) }); } else { return console.log('No Error'); } });