Depression

[I'm Brian]

Don't talk such utter shite.

It's a Halloween costume. You seem to have missed this fact. It's quite an important one in this story. It's a silly wee bit of fun. I don't recall the horror film where the enemy was characterised as such because they were black or had cancer. Also any German costume I've seen that has been stereotypcial has been lederhosen, not Nazi regalia. I think most are sensible enough to realise that not all Germans were Nazis.

These costumes are not saying that all mental patients run around with machetes with blood dripping from their face; they're saying that a popular horror 'character' is the crazed mental patient, which it is. There are plenty of films with crazed mental patients going around killing folk with various sharp metal objects.

If it wasn't a Halloween costume and was just released generally in say, June, then perhaps there might be a case. Even then, only the most precious would take to tears.

Stop talking nonsense.

Some obviously do then. I'm well aware it's a Halloween costume. Still doesn't make it right. Have you ever suffered from a mental health condition and know how it can affect you? Genuine question

[KeeperDee]

That's because people aren't dressed like that in psychiatric wards, nor do they run about covered in blood with machetes. It's so clearly not meant to be an accurate depiction of a person in a psychiatric ward, do you not understand that?

Then why is it labelled "mental patient"?

Where has the perception and stereotype came from?

[Jimmy85]

I for one will be demanding that all 'Mad Scientist' costumes are removed from sale immediately.

[jamamafegan]

I for one will be demanding that all 'Mad Scientist' costumes are removed from sale immediately.

They would have been better changing the name of the costume and keeping them in stock rather than caving in and getting rid of the lot.

Edited September 26, 2013 by jamamafegan4

[I'm Brian]

This in no way validates your claim that people would think that all mental patients are murdering lunatics due to a Halloween costume with blood on it and a plastic machete.

Some people avoided you so you automatically assumed they thought you were a homocidal maniac?

Well they obviously thought I was to be avoided, because before I was admitted they never treated me in such a fashion. Same people that had absolutely no concept of a psychiatric ward, and the same people who felt that because x had been in y hospital, they wouldn't go near them.

[kev23]

Whenever I feel low, I like to bottle things up and not burden anyone else.   It works for me and I'm now feeling happy that I've sorted my problems and I don't have the shame of burdening one of my friends.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again...?

[KeeperDee]

Because it's based on popular horror characters like Michael Myers who were locked up in mental asylums. It's a Halloween costume.

Interestingly, you were more than happy to quote lines from American Psycho, say it was one of your favourite films and have the character of Patrick Bateman as your avatar. That's a film with the term "psycho" in the title, inferring that the lead character has mental health issues and the whole film is indeed a guy with mental health issues murdering and mutilating people.

What's the difference between that and a Halloween costume? Why outrage over one and a wankfest over the other?

Because said title is an absolutely astounding satirical view of consumerism in America. The main point of the film and the book isn't the mental health of Pat, it's what he personifies; All that is wrong with overwhelming consumerism in 80's USA. The book is a literary masterpiece, and the film counterpart is cinematic art.

A lot of mediums such as films confirm and advance stereotypes, but fortunately, films such as Halloween and American Psycho are aimed at older audiences who SHOULD know better and that these are just films and just plays on stereotypes; Halloween costumes on the other hand are more universal and can be aimed at kids who don't really know any better since they are still forming there viewpoints on certain things in society. I sure as hell wouldn't want any children of mine thinking that myself or any relative of mine, or any other member of society who suffered mental health issues was some sort of murderer because they saw a grotesque mental patient costume.

Edited September 26, 2013 by KeeperDee

[Jimmy85]

They would have been better changing the name of the costume and keeping them in stock rather than caving in and getting rid of the lot.

Nope. Not good enough. I demand all Halloween costumes based on stereotypes are removed from sale immediately. Don't want the younger generation thinking all Pirates have a hook for a hand and a parrot on their shoulder.

[GordieBoy80]

I was speaking to a few Somalians earlier who were absolutely seething about those pirate costumes.

Agreed, it doesn't portray them accurately at all.

[Theo Snelders]

What message do folk think this gives?

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/wasted-lives-1-5967935

edit- fat fingers

Edited September 26, 2013 by Theo Snelders

[DA Baracus]

First time I have ever agreed with you. Sweeperdee loves being offended on everyone else's behalf when it comes to depression though.

Do we disagree a lot?

Some obviously do then. I'm well aware it's a Halloween costume. Still doesn't make it right. Have you ever suffered from a mental health condition and know how it can affect you? Genuine question

Have you read the thread?

[DA Baracus]

Nope. Not good enough. I demand all Halloween costumes based on stereotypes are removed from sale immediately. Don't want the younger generation thinking all Pirates have a hook for a hand and a parrot on their shoulder.

We'll have to get rid of 'sexy nurse' outfits and the like. We can't have kids thinking that nurses spend years training just so they can shag everyone they treat.

'70's Hippie' will have to go as well, as clearly people can't understand that not everyone in the 70s wore an afro, big sunglasses, a medallion and dressed in a tie-dye outfit.

Then why is it labelled "mental patient"?

Where has the perception and stereotype came from?

If we're getting into semantics, who calls people who are ill enough to be admitted to a physciatric ward a 'mental patient' these days?

[Aufc]

OK we'll start selling African American costumes that portray them as slaves. We'll complete the look with some chicken and watermelon and a bag that they can put the cotton into.

Where can i get this costume? Sounds dece

[I'm Brian]

Have you read the thread?

I did have a look through it, but names obviously haven't sunk in. I'm glad I did have a look because I've seen a few warning signs recently regards my own situation and it encouraged me to open up to someone, and do something about it.

Where can i get this costume? Sounds dece

Airdrie fan in racist costume shocker

[Aufc]

I did have a look through it, but names obviously haven't sunk in. I'm glad I did have a look because I've seen a few warning signs recently regards my own situation and it encouraged me to open up to someone, and do something about it.

Airdrie fan in racist costume shocker

Got to live upto my stereotype

[The Real Saints]

What a ridiculous overreaction. I wouldn't even have considered making a connection between these costumes and people who suffer from mental illnesses like depression.

[DA Baracus]

What a ridiculous overreaction. I wouldn't even have considered making a connection between these costumes and people who suffer from mental illnesses like depression.

I don't think many people would. It ridiculous to even suggest it. If anyone should be offended here it should be the general public as they've been made out to be thundering thickos who can't think for themselves and would take a silly wee Halloween costume to be representative of someone suffering from mental health issues as well as being people who actually believe in stereotypes and take them seriously. Besides, I'd wager that more people would equate the stereotype of a 'mental patient' with something akin to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (or that episode of The Simpsons where Homer gets sent to a phsyciatric ward) rather than a blood stained, knife wielding murdering sociopath.

[sky+remote]

Get the forms filled in. In my non-expert opinion you have moderate depression, and treatment will help you.

I have filled the forms in, numerous times, signed and dated and everything! Getting myself up there to hand them in is a different matter. Not sure how about actually making an appointment and talking about it either to be honest. I am trying though (slightly)

Not really convinced on the treatment side either, unsure of what I really want from a doctors input. I don't even like taking pain killers because of the side effects, never mind the numbing abilities of the medecation likely to be prescribed to me. I do realise that I need help, but it's hard to see what agreeable action can happen.

[NotThePars]

Yeah, I agree. Renaming it would have been fine. People can forget that mental health patients have more than likely had to deal with the idea or the accusation that they're dangerous or a threat to others. There's plenty of examples of television dramas and movies where the killer or the main antagonist is suffering from some sort of mental illness such as schizophrenia that suggests that people suffering from it ARE dangerous when this isn't the truth in many cases.

[DA Baracus]

I think the furore about that costume is more to do with the fact that it was labelled as a 'mental patient' rather than 'horror film villain' or whatever. It would have been fine, if they hadn't linked this apparent knife-wielding maniac to mental health patients. I certainly wouldn't think 'mental patient' just by looking at it, without seeing the object description.

The difference between this and the facile comparison Jimmy85 made to pirates is that this perception that mental patients are psychopaths and somehow something 'to be feared' is a real phenomenon that has for years actually perpetuated in society a 'fear' or wariness of real people with mental health issues, that has been actively damaging to them and their treatment etc. The costume, or rather their branding of the costume, in its own small way, legitimises and perpetuates that existing 'discrimination', or whatever you want to call it.

You can argue that there's been an overreaction or that somehow some lesser step like renaming the costume would have been a more appropriate step than removing it from sale, but it seems fairly clear to me that in the form that it was being sold, it was harmful.

Except they didn't do that. The media and whiny fucks made that connection. For me it was very obvious what they meaning with this costume, i.e. linked to various horror films where 'mental patients' do indeed go fucking mental and butcher folk with various sharp metal implements.

No one would have said a thing about this costume or linked it with mental health if it wasn't for a flood of over-reactions and tears. No one would probably have even known about it had it not been highlighted and massively blown out of proportion.

Edited September 26, 2013 by DA Baracus