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

[hf128219]

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

I have mental health issues and have been called mental etc before and I posted on that thread. It's not very nice but I guess I was laughing at myself. I agree that it's in bad taste though.

I reported the other thread (don't think I was the only one) and it has been deleted.

On MN it's like certain things are OK to take the piss out of - but others aren't.

It seems knicker-twisting is going on....

there are definitely people who couldbe identified as 'town loony' who do not have any MH health prob, but, through their style of dress and behaviour, enjoy attracting attention to themselves. no need to feel sorry for the 'Screaming Lord Sutch's of this world. Enjoy their madness!

then there are people, generally in the ranks of the homeless, who are noticeably and publicaly unwell. Doing something for these people is hard - a recent campaign in our town reduced the number of perpetual homeless from 20 to 14 - they must have tried hard. Lughing at these people is wrong - but they are not nice - the combined problems of prolonged drug or alchohol addiction and misery destroying their minds doesn't make them pleasant people to be near. Ignoring them is probably the best policy if you are just a bystander. If you really want to do something about it - there are organisations you can donate time and money to.

someone said this could any of our children - no. These are the children from the poorest, most deprived homes and non-homes in the uk. grown up, booted out of the door and into the street.

yet people have treated the group 'town loony ' solely like it was all the latter group. And got on their politicaly corrct high-horses about it 'oh that term is so offensive' - well. Sutch didn't mind, did he?

it is not inconceivable that the word 'homeless' will be deemed offensive in a year or two - and we'll have to dance around what we mean even more.

I very much doubt the word 'homeless' will be offensive in several years.

Given that Lord Sutch eventually hanged himself, I think it's safe to say that he did "mind" being mentally ill. I think he probably "minded" quite a lot. Urging people to "enjoy their madness!" is revoltingly distasteful, in my opinion.

Edgar, I don't think its so much the word as the attitude of 'these people are here for our amusement' which the other thread implied.

My elderly father has alzheimers. My mother does her very best to keep an eye on him, but at times he has been known to wander, and has been found behaving in a way that others may see as odd.

Luckily they live in a village and most people know him and are kind enough to help him home. But not always, some people have been pretty nasty. He has never abused drugs or alcohol, some of his behaviour may be out of the ordinary, but he's just a very old man trying to make some sort of sense of the world, from the prison of a bloody awful illness.

By the way I don't think people who have mental health problems caused by drugs or alcohol are undeserving of compassion either.

Kurri - I agree entirely.

Given that Lord Sutch eventually hanged himself, I think it's safe to say that he did "mind" being mentally ill. I think he probably "minded" quite a lot. Urging people to "enjoy their madness!" is revoltingly distasteful, in my opinion

there are plenty of other prominent politicians, actors, etc that end their own lives. and he called his party 'The monster raving loony party'! - how can you claim he minded the term 'loony'???. I can enjoy the work of these people without it being distatseful because of the sticky ends they came to.

he is just one example of the great british tradition of eccentics.

I think they removed it because it was taking the piss out of the "loonies" in the town centre, aka adults with mental health issues who have nowhere to go because we are shit in this country at looking after people with mental health issues past the age of 18, and leave them to walk the streets. So why the fuck shouldn't we talk about it - I think the casual tossing around of the word "loonies" by Boden catalogue-clutching mums on here needs highlighting. Don't read this thread if you don't like threads about threads.

Well I think it can be a help to discuss these things.Some of my friends and I call each other loonies regularly and I have never associated it with mental health or SN BUT am going to address it now.My younger brother has mental health problems cannabid induced psychosis/schizophrenia and regularly refers to me as a loon so not sure what he will say.FWIW there are several 'local eccentrics' in Brighton who positively relish their roles but am aware that this is not is being discussed herre.So i will no longer be using it as a casual insult and hope I haven't ever offended anyone esp as have quite a few MN rl friends who have children with SN

''someone said this could any of our children - no. These are the children from the poorest, most deprived homes and non-homes in the uk. grown up, booted out of the door and into the street''

WTF?

It's not just the poor and deprived who end up on the streets as homeless drug addicts you know. Ever heard of dual diagnosis? People often turn to drink/drugs because of their mental health. It becomes a vicious circle.

still think that other thread was in poor taste.

My beautiful 6 year old son would also perhaps be called a "looney" if he were a few years older and the OP saw him in the town centre - he was born with autism. Why is it any better than racism - to mock people for how their brain got born, rather than the colour of their skin? If the OP had laughed at the N* in the town centre, or the P** - Mumsnet would rightly have deleted the thread at once. But "loonies" seem still to be fair game, and words like "retard" are in common usage in our schools, perhaps by the children of the very mums who posted on the original thread. Prejudice and ignorance need challenging.

Edgar my beautifulen yar old on occasion crawlsaround the town making guinea pig noises, another one eats what he spots on the floor if we dont get there fast enough,sways and screeches

They fit the criteria of what we would have called the Town Loony very well

They also have ASD

So yes they could be my children, indeed ds1 in particular as he is so-called higher functioning is quite likely compared to the average child to end up destitute and homeless, plenty of peoplewith his dx represented in that group sadly

Edgar,
'someone said this could any of our children - no. These are the children from the poorest, most deprived homes and non-homes in the uk. grown up, booted out of the door and into the street.'

It is our Autistic children and teenagers being laughed at and pointed at, mocked and taunted and having stuff thrown at them and being baited to make them do something funny.
Do you think we were lying?
Or do you believe that if you deny it happens to nice middle-class teachers' children, then that makes your statement true?

YANBU

Starlight-My Unles lost his daugher tol eukaemia,founded a still (after 30 years) successful charity with someone else and now spends the rest of his life in and out of Psych care; Mumon occasion has calledPsych to beg for help becuase he has sounded suicidal and been told to wait until Monday..

'being baited to make them do something funny.' or worse, and then they allswear that they didn't doanything Miss so our children get punished,treated like they have something infectious and and become victims.

one of the blokes I see does not have a diagnosed mental health illness, but is Aspergers. Unfortunately, when he was younger, people didn't discriminate very well between MH and SN, so he ended up in a mental hospital....by the time Maggie and her ''care in the community'' Act decided to turf him out, he was well and truly institutionalised.
I have been with him when people make comments in the street

Great to see understanding and compassion on here and yah boo sucks to the original bunch of superior ignoramuses who think it's fun to laugh at those who are different.

Hopefully there are more of us than them.

Isn't the word "loon" used on MN quite regularly when insulting OP's behaviour/thoughts??? Double standards.

(and yes I found that thread distasteful)

Missed the thread you are talking about, but have a (probably daft) question. What is so awful about the word loony?

I ask because I describe myself thus when required and when the kids are being weird and make me laugh I sometimes say oh you loon, or similar. And it's good to know if I am accidentally shocking or insulting others by using it.

It's just not a word I had thought to be offended by, it seems so harmless, more of a word for daft than for insane or whatever.