Stigma in a Halloween costume?.....

We can find examples of prejudice and stigma in a variety of places.  Now I am finding out that one of my favorite fun holidays (Halloween) produced one of the clearest examples of stigma that you can find.  Here is the article that I read regarding this situation:  bit.ly/192QQn8  Asda and Tesco are two online grocery stores.  And apparently, they saw fit to sell two Halloween costumes portraying the mentally ill in stereotypical ways.  Now, I certainly realize that Halloween is frequently used to skewer people. We can find political masks and stereotypical costumes of a variety of ‘types’ of people. It is meant to be fun.  And to allow us to poke fun in a healthy manner. But there are limits to this.  As the article states, would we see a costume poking fun at a cancer patient?  How about one that is making fun of someone with AIDS? I am sure that we could come up with a stereotypical and insulting way to portray both conditions.

So, what do I see as stereotypical in the way that Asda and Tesco portrayed the mentally ill?  Look at the costumes. I’m willing to bet that you can see what I’m talking about. It portrays the mentally ill as dangerous.  It makes them look wild.  And of course, it makes them look criminal. The orange jumpsuit is strikingly similar to the orange jumpsuits frequently worn in jail.  Most importantly, it makes the mentally ill somehow different than you and me.  That is the biggest lie of all.  Because when there are one in four of us struggling with mental illness at any given time, the mentally ill aren’t different.  We are simply human. If you were to really wear a costume showing the mentally ill, you would simply wear the clothing that you normally wear.  Because the reality is that mental illness occurs for the most affluent, the poor, and all socio-economic levels in between. It also happens in all countries and with all cultures.  The religious and non-religious alike have mental illness.  Truly it is an equal opportunity scourge.  It is part of being human.  People in mental hospitals mostly look like the rest of us. 

      

So, is this another effort to push “political correctness”?  You may look at it that way.  I just see it as another opportunity to challenge the stigma that people bring to a discussion about mental illness and mentally ill people.  This stigma can be truly damaging to people who are actually living with such illness.  It is fact that stigma prevents people from seeking treatment.  It makes it more difficult for people to be open regarding having mental illness.  It also helps keep the mentally ill disconnected from people who buy into the stigma surrounding mental illness.  

When you think about a “crazy” person, what do you picture? (Yes, I know the word crazy is stereotypical.  I used it deliberately.  Stigma exists in our vocabulary too.)  Is it something like the pictures of the costumes attached to the article?  Or is it your family member or loved one?  Is it your office mate or some wild eyed individual wearing an orange jumpsuit?  Is it your friend or the guy wearing the “Mental Patient Fancy Dress Costume”?  When I picture mental illness, I see people in pain.  Some with more visible evidence of the illness.  Others who simply look human.  Just like you and me.