To think this is awful -Do you have a resident town loony?

[hf128219]

I think it's dreadful. It's really got my goat.

What gets me is that people think it is actually funny.

this could be any of our children in years to come.

Exactly - so why do people mock it? Say you are anti-breastfeeding on here - you would be flamed.

I got flamed the other day for being 'snide' to another poster on a homophobic thread.
Apparently it's ok to be rascist, homophobic, and mock the mentally ill, but god forbid one should be snide...

There is a stigma attached to mental health problems in this country which stops people getting the help they need.

My son is Bi-polar and sometimes uses derogatory expressions about himself (never about others),but its part of his coping strategy I think. I find it heartbreaking having seen him in the depths of depression and being unable to help.

On a slightly different note though, when I see certain thread titles, I wonder if I am being over-sensitive. There was one the other day about 'I'd rather cut my tit off than.....'

I've had a mastectomy and found it a bit , but I was the only person who complained, so I concluded I must be having a sense of humour failure.

KurriKurri, tell me about it
It starts with mums suffering PND who are too scared to get help because People Will Talk...
And with depression which people refuse to take ADs for ''in case social services take my child away'' and the men who use ADs as a blackmail threat to use over child custody.

If we can't deal with these everyday Mental Health Problems...
If we teach our children to fear the old lady talking to herself...
If we laugh at people who look or sound ''different'....

gawd help us.

There have been several threads on here that use the 'r' word, but actually public opinon was divided as to if ok or not.

I hate the term loony, but although it offends me it actually offends me less than the 'r' word - perhaps because my DS would fall into the 'r' cat currently but not the 'l' one?

I think that starting another thread is exactly the thing to do. The use of words/terms that cause offence, why they might be inappropriate/hurtful isn't something that can be condensed into a simple "don't do it" (though that has its place) but needs space to be discussed.

Just my opinion.

Personally, I'm old enough to have noticed a big change. Words like "retard" are pretty unacceptable now, and "loony" makes people stop and think twice.

I've noticed that people usually use these terms out of habit, and stop when it's explained why it's not OK. And, even more, when LIFE brings them into contact with people affected by the issues behind the epithets. My famous example of that would be India Knight, who has stopped using terms like "spaz" and "retard" since having a daughter with SN. That makes me think a lot of it is unfamiliarity, rather than malice.

At the risk of being patronising and a killjoy, I'll just add my voice to those pointing out that there are terrible problems with the provision of mental health services. This is (part of) what leads to people with mental health issues in public places, acting oddly. It probably means that they have little/no support, are off their meds., and are in insecure accommodation.

That sounds horribly killjoy, but it's something to think about, and something that should be told, repeatedly.

The fact that there is little support outside the family for people with SN, including mental health issues, is something that adds to the worry of parents of SN children. That, sadly, is what you can see when you look at the "resident town loony": how the "state", "we", "the community" care for those who have mental health issues.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a pc bore - but it needs to be said as part of the conversation.

Very well said.

I always think 'There go I for the grace of God'

It's the same with poverty, addiction.

Please answer this question since no-one of the other thread will:

"But please can you all explain to me how we are supposed to react to someone acting in such a manner. Pretend they aren't there? Complain about them to the local police and get them removed? Tut? What do you say to a child when they see an adult running along the pavement clearly using an invisible steering wheel and changing gear, making engine noises? Isn't it best to just let them smile and think it's funny instead of awful, something to be hidden away and denied? How do you react? What is the best response to a child in that situation? "

Or is it just the term you object to?

I answered you on the other thread.

How are you supposed to react?
With curiosity. Not mockery.
Answering your children's questions about weird behaviour with intelligence and helping them accept difference without seeing it as alien or terrifying. Just different.
What harm does their behaviour do to you?
What harm does your attitude do to them?

orm - surely it's easy enough to say that some people aren't very well, the kind of not very well that makes them do things might look a bit odd?
if that's not enough, then they're probably old enough for a fuller explanation of mental health problems.

I treat them the same way I treat anyone. With respect, sincerity, decency, friendliness.

hf - yes well done! You have hit the jackpot. You treat them as you would treat anyone else. IE you don't ignore them or pretend they aren't doing what they are doing. How patronising it is to look away and pretend it isn't happening?

Well, if my child asked me, I'd answer. Probably with reference to children that they know and accept as part of their school and social lives.

But I'm not sure what you mean by "pretending it isn't happening". Do we react to everything we see?

I remember reading Bill Bryson;s Notes from a Small Island where he desribes living in Virginia Water where the residents in the local hospital wandered around doing, well, things that would be considered odd anywhere else, but were merely part of the scene there because of familiarity. I guess that's ignoring after a fashion. But after a good fasion I think.

It's not hitting the jackpot. It's just being a decent human being.

But fallen, that is exactly what the OP (badly worded) was talking about. People who acted differently but have become part of the everyday scene. At least that's how I read it.

Yanbu.

But maybe it's not a bad thing that the thread was started. I think a lot of people genuinely don't think and question their attitudes to mh and lds - there are lots of people making very good points on that thread and maybe it will make people think.

Well, having read the thread now, rather than just the thread about the thread, I'm inclined to agree with you. People were describing, rather than mocking, I think. And there is a difference. But I suppose if you have a child who is pointed and laughed at, it would be really difficult to read. People stand out from the crowd - by behaviour sometimes, or by appearance. They're going to be noticed. At first anyway. Then I suppose they do become part of the scene a la Bill Bryson. Doesn't mean that people who notice are going to feel or behave negatively towards them though surely?

Thank gawd for that fallen! I was beginning to feel I was a lone voice .

Looney though? A moment's thought would have told the OP that would be offensive surely?

its not a nice thread - the other one. the OP may not have meant harm but those threads always descend into people going -

"well. theres this man in our hightstreet who...xxx, complete with names, descriptions of his behaviour then mockery, head shaking and incredulity that he has been "let loose".

pisses me off actually.