To be offended by term 'pscho ward'?

[afriquetutts]

My family and I just went to our local Frankie & Bennies for lunch. They are having a themed weekend - halloween and the staff are dressed up as witches, vampires etc etc. One of the staff was dressed in an orange jump suite with the phrase 'committed to psycho ward' printed on the back........ and he was wearing a Hannibal mask. I couldn't quite believe my eyes. I'm not sure where enduring mental illnesses fall into the halloween theme and I certainly don't think this was a suitable outfit for a family restaurant. Is it me?! (and no, this hasn't hit a nerve because me or any of my family or friends have mental illnesses. I am a nurse, but not even a psychiatric one - this just seemed really tasteless to me!)

thnaks- (just watch where you are stroking )

well I guess it goes to show we are all different in what we find offensive...

don't worry emma i'll be careful lol

I would have been furious. It's a horrible thing to say about psychiatric patients - and yes, I have been one.

no, I don't think it's offensive - it's clearly intended in jest -people seem to be a little oversensitive

and mental health is something worth joking about is it?

I think you're being a little oversensitive,that's all...can we not poke fun at anything anymore ?

I think there are certain topics which are 'off limits' for jokes and the like. Mental health being one them...

Don't want to argue this further as it obviously upsets you and I respect your feelings - I was just speaking from my point of view - I have suffered mental illness for many years and spent a year in hospital. Apologies though to you.

nah

it was an outfit based on a film and that's it really

it wasn't a statement on mental health

(as zippi was saying, one of most important things about mental health is for it not to be a taboo topic)

I mean I'm not denying your right to be offended just think it's unfortunate that you feel that way because I really don't think any offence was intended iyswim.

I don't think it's poking fun at mental illness.
It's poking fun at fictional psychopaths such as Hannibal Lecter. Isn't that why he was wearing a Hannibal mask?

a film?????

The Silence of the Lambs

I was thinking One Flew over the Cuckoos nest - the Hannibal Lecter masks are horrible and very scary I think.

i hate this having an excuse for having a view business as I think you can have a view from whatever angle you look at it and it be equally valid but

i have been an inpateinet in a psychiatric hospital too

and I think jokes are ok..a lot of what goes on is funny..as well

but respect someone else's views that they would be offended..but I wouldn't actually do anything to endorse their view iyswim

perhaps I'm just not very supportive either as well as being insensitive I dunno really

just out of interest to people find those signs that say

you don'[t have to be mad to work here but it helps offensive?

or I had my haircut last week and the woman in the hairdressers had a little flip book with the message

next mood swing six minutes

which she was showing everyone and had on her workstation

that could be construed as offensive to some people lol

I just find those 'you don't have to be mad...' signs just unfunny, nothing to do with any mental health issues !

well yes most of those little signs are cringemaking in their naffness

Whether it is a subject for joking about or not, I would not know. Personally, it does not offend me but I have not been a patient in a psychiatric hospital. I do, however, find it distasteful that Halloween is linked to people who have mental illnesses. I hate Halloween anyway, but why can't it be restricted witches and warlocks as it was when I was a child. Where is the supposed link with people with mental illnesses? I know Halloween was traditionally the night when evil spirits came out, and traditionally people with mental illnesses were thought to be possessed by evil spirits, but I thought we had all moved on from that now?

You want mental illnesses to have a positive image? I don't see this is achieved by linking them to evil spirits and Halloween.

I think the link is horror/fear of the unknown/loss of control

which has always had an element of mental health in it...in fact there would be a whole raft of inappropriate stuff if we went down that route

I don't have much interest in halloween either tbh

My problem with it (and my brother has schizophrenia) is the equation of mental illness with violence and murder (the Hannibal mask). It's true that people with psychosis do sometimes harm other people, but they are much more likely to harm themselves.

...and the fact that psychosis and violence are so closely related in the mind of the public means that people with psychosis suffer from extreme levels of stigma and hostility.

I think people also fear that which is within themselves ...but that is why we also make literature/art about these subjects as an exploration of the human condition

and to some extent halloween is about that which is mysterious and unknown/unknowable

of course on the whole it is a coimmercial enterprise which brings us back to the restaurant

I don't think that a Hannibal Lecter outfit is an appropriate thing for a member of staff in a family restaurant to wear.

possibly not but then i don't suppose a zombie, witch or ghost outfit is either in that case