Unfortunately, Halloween spurs costumes and depictions of scary events that misalign and stigmatize persons struggling with mental disorders. Based on the number of Hollywood horror movies that promote this prejudice, no one should be surprised. Still, it is frustrating. And hurtful.
ABC’s smash hit, Dancing With The Stars, featured a dance routine last night where three of its male participants appeared in straight jackets, including one dancer in zombie makeup, escaping from behind bars. Thankfully there was no mention of the “insane.”
Perhaps the most blatant display this year of insensitivity appeared on the webpage, A Brooklyn Limestone in Progress, whose owners are renovating a residence and charting their progress on the Internet. Under the headline: Halloween Decor Reveal: Welcome to the Asylum, the owners pushed evey hurtful stereotype possible, including an especially offensive invitation to visit their house.
described how important the HOPE Clubhouse in Ft. Myers was to her recovery. As with so many of our young people, Jourdan had excelled as a teenager and had gone to college with big plans – only to become sick. She was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and not long after that she became so ill that she had to drop out. At one point, she was suicidal. When she called the local police during a manic episode, rather than getting help, she ended up getting arrested and jailed — “to be taught a lesson.” That experience — at the hands of unsympathetic and poorly trained sheriff’s deputies — resulted in her developing PTSD.
