Madona Pakkam (MS3)
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Post by Madona Pakkam (MS3) on Oct 28, 2016 14:11:09 GMT -4
Well it's great that organisations such as NAMI take a stand and advocate for mental health as it is imperative for people with such issues to come forward and seek help! A good scare hunt is what we all seek for during Halloween and it can be truly haunting when someone with these issues visit these locations as they might have repercussions and unfortunate consequences. I understand shutting these events work in the best of these people but what do we do about other media content (Tv shows or movies such as shutter island and so on). We can't ban them but we can definitely choose or opt not to go and watch it. May be the same should be done for attractions or events like these... I think greater focus must be made in raising awareness, bringing forth many stories of individuals' with similar problems and creating a tighter bind to help someone in need. Mental health issues can be insidious and can creep upon an individual without one's awareness and something that cannot be detected until it's too late.
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Post by Daniel Atashsokhan on Oct 28, 2016 18:54:37 GMT -4
Mental-health stigmas and the social discrimination that is attached to them have become a lethal combination, especially in the advertising media of amusement parks. In the article, I found it very interesting to note how there are two sides being represented in mental-health advocacy. On one hand, organizations like NAMI are looking out for the best interests of individuals with psychiatric disorders and strive to combat media (i.e. Carowinds attractions) that is discriminating these individuals in order to flourish an income in the entertainment industry. On the other hand, there is a reference of these organizations using this political correctness more than regularly and therefore, reducing the public interest of these amusement attractions. I do agree that it is the responsibility of businesses in the entertainment industry to adhere to an advertising protocol and display to the masses a proper form of terminology that is non-discriminatory. For the population of people who do not suffer from mental illness, they will not be able to understand the mental anguish being internalized by sufferers of a psychiatric disorder when they simply pass by an amusement park attraction.
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Post by Darrah Shields on Oct 29, 2016 19:34:05 GMT -4
As someone who loves haunted houses and has been to three this year I never really gave any thought to the exploitation of the insane. While I do think many of the actors pose a more dramatic portrayal of the insane I do think that it can be a sensitive subject. I fear that there has been a shift from good old fashioned Halloween fun to more scary and scandalous haunted houses as of late. The media seems to also be a big factor in allowing mental illness to become "the scary thing" in society. This really breaks my heart because people forget to think about the absolute shear heart attack that people with a mental illness go through on a normal basis. I think NAMI should continue to advocate against using Mental Health patients as the theme for haunted houses. I personally think that there are more scary things that these Halloween places can use as opposed to misrepresenting a population of people with an actual health issue.
Darrah Shields MS3
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Post by Andrew Milian on Oct 30, 2016 17:32:05 GMT -4
Haunted houses, insane asylums, and all the fright night fun that people enjoy should be taken as entertainment (fake) NOT as educational. Sadly, psychiatric patients are poorly represented in these "haunted asylums" and that does hurt the image of psychiatric patients. However, most schizophrenics are not blood thirsty animals that want to kill you. The general population thinks differently once they associate a patient with a mental disorder and may treat a psychiatric patient differently even though they act perfectly normal once medicated. The misinterpretation of these patients should be taken advantage of now to provide the general public with an accurate depiction of patients with mental disorders. Haunted asylums, as the general population should know, is not meant to describe real patients but is a way to get a cheap scare.
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Justin Brathwaite (MS3)
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Post by Justin Brathwaite (MS3) on Oct 30, 2016 19:48:26 GMT -4
Mental illness has been exploited as a Halloween attraction for many years. It is a big business that utilizes various forms of costumes and attractions, which perpetuates the stigma that traditionally surrounds mental illness. Not only does this holiday insensitively misrepresent what it is like to suffer from mental heath issues, but it also leads to discrimination that suggest that people with mental illnesses should be feared. It is about time that this gross misrepresentation is put to an end. This requires that we all transform our idea of people with mental illness into something other than objects worthy of fear. After all, mental illness isn’t unknowable and it isn’t a death sentence: It’s something people recover from, or live with, given proper treatment and support.
Justin Brathwaite (MS3)
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Post by Jerome Brathwaite on Oct 30, 2016 22:19:40 GMT -4
This article does well in highlighting the link between mental illness and Halloween. It is unfortunate that a holiday is used so openly to mock and make fun of mental illness especially when people with mental illnesses cannot control their behavior. Imagine a person suffering with a mental illness. After seeing how halloween is celebrated, many may not seek medical attention because they fear being ridicule. I hope in the future the stigma associated with being mentally ill disappears and I think advocacy groups such as NAMI are taking that all important first step in the right direction.
(MS3)
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Post by Jennifer Ganzhorn on Oct 31, 2016 11:24:16 GMT -4
The USA is becoming more and more politically correct in an effort to be as least offensive as possible for everyone. Included in this effort is de-stigmatizing mental illness. As the article stated, Halloween has a history of depicting mental illness as scary, dangerous, and shameful. This year, one of the most popular costumes is Harley Quinn, a DC comic character featured in the movie “Suicide Squad”. She is a psychiatrist who treated the Joker, fell in love with him, and became his criminally insane accomplice. Popular culture, hollywood and Halloween all have a role in perpetuating a horrific version of mental illness and psychiatric care. This has the effect of limiting people’s access to psychiatric care because they themselves fear what other people will think of them, as most lay people’s only exposure to psychiatric care is through these dramatizations. They continue to perpetuate the social stigma of mental illness. It is unfortunate because there are so many people with mental illness and not enough access to physicians or facilities. As long as these stereotypes are pushed onto the general public, it will prevent people from finding the care that they need due to fear of discrimination.
Jennifer Ganzhorn MS3
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Post by Marina Danilchenko on Oct 31, 2016 13:53:58 GMT -4
Mental illness is complex and oftentimes scary both to those dealing with it personally and to those simply looking in. It is no wonder that companies, especially during Halloween, choose to capitalize on this oftentimes misunderstood human condition. It is all in good fun, or is it? When the images portrayed hit too close to home for some of the visitors of haunted houses and customers of holiday attire we must ask ourselves if these companies are crossing the line of pure entertainment into the realm of further stigmatization of mental disease. Thankfully, corporations are open and receptive to changing imagery in haunted houses, and with enough mental health advocate involvement, the scenes can be altered to either provide more sensitive material or to remove depictions of mental illness completely.
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Post by Jenny Thomas (MS3) on Oct 31, 2016 19:05:17 GMT -4
This article brings into the spot light a point that many people have failed to recognize. Mental health is very real, and with certain amusement attractions using mental disorders as a way to scare, not only do they undermine the truth of these diseases, but they also give a false impression to those who go to these attractions. I think it is excellent that someone has stood up and is making a change in the way mental diseases are portrayed. This change will not only benefit those who actually have a mental illness and are scared to approach for help because of how psychiatry is displayed, but it will also eliminate a false façade given to the children who venture these attractions.
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Post by Karl Upplegger on Nov 1, 2016 11:12:29 GMT -4
It is great to see that Mental illness awareness is gaining more traction across the nation. Attractions during both the halloween season and in general, depicting mental illnesses and treatment centers in a negative manner, are both ignorant and outdated. Yes, mental illness and their treatments have a "scary" and inhumane past, like those of Schizophrenia and the lobotomy treatments widely performed in the 1900's by Walter Freeman. These procedures and many other medical approaches to mental health have progressed and are now treated in a manner with more integrity given to the patient. Medication with pharmacological advances through research have allowed for this turn towards a more positive manner of treatment. A person should never feel misrepresented or misunderstood because of an illness they have and the wrong interpretation most people have towards that illness. Education and appropriate portrayal of the illnesses will be the only way that we as a nation can correct the wrong done to these individuals. Unfortunately, this is an uphill battle at the time, with films coming out annually depicting different mental illnesses and their improper depiction of their treatments along with halloween attractions delivering the same message. Increasing the education and awareness of mental health diseases to the general public will help in people being more accepting and willing to pursue treatment for their personal mental health diseases or disorders.
Karl Upplegger (MS3)
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Post by Ramy Salib (MS3) on Nov 2, 2016 9:10:42 GMT -4
The topic of Halloween encounters many controversial issues, mainly due to difference on opinion, as well as cultural and religious backgrounds, etc. In my opinion, the one thing that should not be controversial is using Halloween to misrepresent any kind of mental illness. These people have no control over their illness and situation, and thus it cannot be appropriate to misrepresent them in an event that has the sole purpose and main theme of being "scary". These patients should not be taken advantage of in this way, but rather taken care of. Since these patients and their families go through this struggle everyday, it's not right to represent them with a negative connotation during an event.
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Post by Yusuf Alimi (MS3) on Nov 2, 2016 12:08:26 GMT -4
I can totally understand how the gross misrepresentation of patients suffering from mental disorder depicted in these supposedly asylum-themed haunted Halloween attractions can be frowned upon as been inappropriate. However, it is also worthy of note that what is to be expected from entering this so called “attraction” has been described beforehand and an individual with a mental disorder in a Halloween attraction that has individuals supposedly depicting patients with mental illness as characters meant to scare is like an individual with vertigo going on a “spin-around” ride in the park that would definitely make you dizzy. Or watching a fictional movie or video game and actually believing this is exactly the way things are meant to be represented in real life situations.
On the other hand, I do see how this gross misrepresentation can have a negative influence on how individuals with mental illness are perceived by the general public and how this can lead to social and employment discrimination. We have movies nowadays that depicts individuals with mental illness as being extremely violent and everyone gets to watch these movies in theaters. I personally think a disclaimer form or video should be provided to individuals willing to go into these attractions stating that there is no correlation between what is experienced in these fear-centered asylum themed attractions and how individuals with mental illness might behave in the real world situations and that this is just for the fun and fear factor involved. It could also be used as a form on mental health awareness education and a fraction of the ticket prices donated to mental health research. I also think these themed attractions should definitely be aimed at an “adult-only” audience for reasons I think are very apparent.
Overall, I think the main issue here is that most people of the general public are not formally informed or aware of what mental illness is like and that these individuals need to be helped, not feared and that these attractions are not a depiction of the behavioral aspect of individuals suffering from mental illness. A proper mental health awareness program and implementation of some of the suggested methods I have stated above might go a long way to solving these problems rather than advocating for closure of these facilities trying to provide fear-based fun for individuals willing to experience it.
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Post by Nnenia Francis on Nov 2, 2016 15:58:01 GMT -4
I can definitely understand that around the Halloween season there's an over-dramatisation of psychiatric patients, but I do feel that it's not meant as an all encompassing view of those with mental health issues. Though it is an unsavory part of the field, it is an unfortunate reality that there are violent patients. Through history there has been practices in mental health such as lobotomies, that in the current era are considered horrifying. By using these instances as inspiration for haunted houses it is perpetuating a stigma and stereotype that is based in reality. I personally don't believe that those Halloween attractions can shape impressionable minds to think that those depicted are in any way the norm. I believe the real battle is getting people to believe the reality of mental health. For people to realize that it isn't a choice and there is scientific research and evidence behind the fact that you can be depressed when as far as others are concerned you shouldn't have anything to complain about. "You have money so why are you depressed" these are thoughts that are prevalent in society and have a greater negative effect on the mental health community. I disagree with the example that was used comparing those with mental health and cancer patients. The situation is not equivalent there is no basis for a cancer patient to be violent and no real reason for them to be in a haunted house. It's not like the haunted house proprietors are fabricating the violent and unfortunate history behind some plagued with mental illness. I do understand that some with mental health issues are offended by the portrayal but it is my opinion that a couple attractions once a year do not deserved to be shut down. I don't want to trivialise the concerns laid out in this article, but I personally don't feel like the haunted house attractions are offensive.
Nnenia Francis MS3
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Post by jacquelinep on Nov 4, 2016 14:12:36 GMT -4
Mental illness continues to be one of the most misunderstood diseases today. There remains to be a stigma out there that still makes people afraid to come forward and get help because they don’t want to be labeled as having a mental illness. By displaying mental illness patients in a haunted house, mental illness is being depicted as anything but a serious medical condition. As the article mentions, this only further adds to patient self-shame and potential delay in seeking treatment. Why is it fair to make an attraction out of a mental health patient, but not a cancer patient? While both are serious conditions, the difference between them is patients with mental health disorders display their disease externally, for all to see.
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Post by Ashif Molla (MS3) on Nov 4, 2016 14:13:46 GMT -4
Mental illness is a serious condition, especially for the people suffering from certain mental disorders, therefore it is not something to be taken lightly and mocked for the amusement of others. Using mental illness as a gimmick to scare people demonizes the actual people suffering from mental disorders and ostracizes them from society. Misrepresenting people with mental illness will continue to perpetuate the negative stereotype that mental hospital patients are evil and should be feared. This form of discrimination will further demonize and shame actual patients with mental illnesses, preventing them from seeking proper medical treatment. Just like it was acceptable to laugh at people with physical disabilities in the past, it is no longer socially acceptable and is viewed as very insensitive. Society should be responsible enough not to stigmatize certain groups of people for having a mental illness, as this can embarrass and shame people from seeking proper medical treatment. Therefore, it is commendable that people have started to end using mental hospital patients has something to be feared at Halloween themed amusement parks, and allow them the respect and privacy that people with certain medical conditions deserve. As the stigma against having a mental illness begins to vanish, then the social discrimination against those people will also slowly begin to improve. Inaccurate portrayals of what mental illness really looks like can misinform the general public and further worsen the stigma against actual people with mental illness. It is very offensive and further perpetuates the stereotype that these people are dangerous and should be feared. This causes people to be ashamed of their condition and not want to seek proper treatment, which can further worsen their condition.
Ashif Molla (MS3)
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