I received an email inviting me to attend the opening of a new trendy bar/venue in town. I didn't know the organisation and they don't know me so I must have got on a list somewhere because our office is in the area. It looked pretty cool so I was initially tempted but then on reading further down the page it said that they had 3 private areas for hire - "The Doctor’s Waiting Room", "The Ward with Padded Cell" and "The Shrink’s office".
I did a double take. Padded Cell? This is in such bad, cruel taste. "The Shrink" was not exactly funny either, but it wasn't offensive. But millions of people have suffered with mental health problems and still do, and in times gone by those who were deemed to be mad enough to be forcibly locked up in a padded cell were often deeply anguished and massively distressed, drugged against their will, and treated like criminals.
I'm generally not one to sound off but this really got my blood boiling. So I wrote to them declining to attend and saying why. They probably thought I should just take a chill pill, but I asked them, would you have a room themed “the leprosy clinic” or the “cancer ward” or the “torture chamber”? I've not yet heard back.
It left me wondering - whoever thought this up? Was this a brainstorming session by the creatives that just went a bit too far? Were they trying to be really edgy? Was it a deliberate attempt to get some publicity (no such thing as bad press - which of course in writing this I am adding to!). Whatever their reasons, I'm not sure they were really thinking.
At least 1 in 5 people in the UK experience mental illness – some research says it's 1 in 4 - during their lives. One in 3 families is affected by it. And people with serious mental health problems are 12 times more likely to commit suicide than others, according to research published by Kings College London.
Making mental illness a source of amusement or entertainment is not helping anyone, even if it's not intended to offend but just to be quirky. It is a massive issue affecting millions of people and it's likely to rise as times get harder. Organisations cannot be allowed to get away with and profit from cheap publicity ploys when so many others are working so hard to remove the stigma attached to mental illness.
So if you're reading this and thinking about what you or your organisation could do to help others out in these times of austerity and anxiety for people, have a look here and find out more about some of the great work being done in this field:
References: Need to Talk Campaign
http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0000/9311/We_Need_to_Talk_campaign_for_psychological_therapies_briefing.pdf
http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0000/9311/We_Need_to_Talk_campaign_for_psychological_therapies_briefing.pdf
Kings College - Suicide Research
