Mental Health and Halloween: Satire and Stigma

Throughout this, I’ve put in a few links to interesting articles. I’d suggest you read them as you read this – they either explain things better than I can, put things in context or give more information. I also haven’t included sources for everything – but a quick google should suffice.

At this time of year there’s always a lot in the news about the latest offensive Halloween costume. We’ve seen it all, and I’m not going to repeat it here. What has been becoming more apparent in recent years is the growing outrage of the treatment of mental health conditions at Halloween. The main focus has usually fallen on a few costumes: namely the “Mental Health Patient” and “Psych ward” costumes stocked at Asda and Tesco and subsequently pulled from the shelves in 2013 and the“Annie/Anna Rexia” outfit, which first drew attention in 2011, and this year circulated again with an emotional plea from a sufferer in which she suggests that instead of going as ‘Anna Rexia’ you ought to “go as a vampire, or a zombie. Because 1/3 [of us] are already dead”.

A growing number of people can see why these are distasteful at the very least, although some people can’t resist labeling those who complain as killjoys or the ‘PC police’. But the problem is that it is a very *real* problem for many people. 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience some form of mental health condition in any given year – and up to 50% of the world's population will be affected at some point in their lifetime. However, studies with accurate figures are hard to come by, partly because many sufferers go unrecorded and untreated because of the stigma that comes attached with it.

So, back to the present day and why I am writing this post. I must admit, whilst I have always thought that the costumes satirising mental health are frankly, just fairly disgusting, I haven’t ever blogged about it. In fact, I’ve never blogged about mental health on its own before, and as you may notice, I haven’t blogged for a while (see note at bottom if you haven't seen me on here for a while!). So why am I writing now? Last night I was left in what I can only describe as a state of shock and sadness at two of the Halloween costumes I saw. One was being worn by a student who walked through my college dining room to get to the bar. He was dressed as a zombie and had a noose around his neck. A suicide victim. I don’t know any more details – presumably there was some *hilarious* story behind it. That lowered my mood somewhat as I returned from dinner to finish some work and watch “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in celebration of this, usually fun, holiday. However, I then saw that both a Durham student and a good old friend who I haven’t been in regular contact with for a while had both decided to dress as ‘Bald Britney’ for Halloween.

For those of you who don’t know, as with many of the celebrities those of us born in the 90’s grew up with, Britney Spears suffered a breakdown in 2007/2008. This was thanks to drug addictions and other mental health issues that lead to her shaving her hair off, attacking paparazzi with an umbrella when they wouldn’t leave her alone, losing custody of her children and being forcibly removed to a psychiatric hospital. To this day she remains under a ‘conservatorship, which gives her father legal control over her to ensure her well being as she is deemed incapable of looking after herself. Of course, Britney is not the only child star to succumb to such troubles, just a few of the former child stars I know of to suffer from addiction and other mental health problems include Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone fame), Linsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, Drew Barrymore and Demi Lovato. Each of these had to face a crisis – and all in the public eye.

So, what do we do? We mock them, we laugh at them, we shake our heads at the innocent child stars “gone bad”. We blame the culture we live in – but do we try to understand and provide support? Most of the media certainly doesn’t, at least not at this stage. So, when I saw these costumes of ‘bald Britney’ (neither of them frankly even very original anyway – this has been done thousands of times) I was upset. I was most upset to see a friend who I know is a lovely, caring person wearing it, and to see other equally lovely caring people ‘liking’ it and joining in on the ‘joke’.

I know what it feels like to feel like you are literally going ‘crazy’ – I am assuming anyone who has ever had a panic attack will be able to tell you the first time they had one was terrifying as they probably had no idea what was going on. I’ve suffered from anxiety (acute, mostly related to exams and fear of failure), depression (general, moderate) and panic attacks as physical manifestations of these. I’ve had help and thankfully am a lot better now – I’m in a much much much better place thanks to the support I’ve received. But, for someone suffering with these or any other mental health condition, until you receive help you can feel entirely alone. It’s hard to seek help, partly as you don’t necessarily want to admit you need help to yourself, let alone anyone else. And it doesn’t help that society so often portrays mental illness in such a negative way.

To satirise mental health is not helpful. It's singling out an individual undergoing a crisis as worthy of parody, and by reflection trivialising the crisis as a whole (kudos must go to a friend of mine for summing it up so eloquently). The photo I saw was accompanied by the phrase “If Britney can make it through 2007, you can make it through today” – a popular meme that I will not repost here which is printed on T shirts, mugs and used as a general ‘inspirational’ slogan. Some people may find it helpful. In fact, I assume other people with mental health problems have possibly found the idea helpful. However if we consider the real meaning behind it, perhaps we’ll all be able to see what a problem this attitude towards mental illness brings.

Firstly, a quick glance at google confirms people often use this as a happy “Wooo, go me!” statement – people who haven’t had a coffee that morning, people at the gym, people fed up that it’s not the weekend yet. Can anyone *not* see the problem here first of all? Is there anyone that actually really wants to compare some fairly trivial ‘trials’ of life to someone undergoing a complete breakdown? I, as much as anyone who gains their knowledge through the internet, don’t know the full story of Britney’s journey – but I’m pretty sure she had to go through a lot more pain and suffering trying to recover than someone who didn’t get their coffee until later than they'd have liked. If a loved one was going through the same thing, would you, to their face, compare your lives saying, “Well, if you got through months worth of rehab for substance abuse, I can make it through to the weekend despite the fact it’s *only* Wednesday”? Would you do it if someone was suffering from any other type of illness/disability? “Wow, you managed to survive meningitis. I’m sure I can get through my workout today”. As a quick “I can do this”, “life could be worse” statement, you can see why people don’t necessarily appreciate the full impact of what they’re saying. To me, far from being inspirational, it’s fairly tragic.

Because the end of this story is so often tragic. What are we really saying when we proclaim that we can get through whatever because Britney “made it through”? Other sources of the meme actually use the phrase “Britney survived”. And this is really what it comes down to – are we really happy using this statement that basically says we can achieve something because someone who was suffering so much survived? That because she ended up in recovery and has improved so is no longer a ‘crazy figure’ to be mocked in the media constantly we should take this as an inspiration to get through our, probably actually very average day? That because she didn’t commit suicide this is inspirational? Note, it is unclear whether or not she has attempted suicide - but the media has reported on it with ghoulish glee before. Some have accused her of "exploiting suicide". Others have suggested that this was her "inevitable rehab suicide attempt" and said that we could never expect "just how mental her suicide attempt would be". I don't know if it's true. All I know is that in my opinion, no matter how public someone's life if, no matter how amusing you personally find someone's mental state - suicide should not be treated as a joke. 

Let’s remember folks, the real cost of mental health conditions. They cost people both periods of time in their lives spent in immense pain – and for some people, their actual entire lives. What makes it ok for us to use statements about Britney in a light hearted, jokey, ‘inspirational’ way, but not for us to say “If Amy Whinehouse made it through 6 whole years of mental health issues and substance abuse (before she died from an alcoholic overdose), you can do x”? Is the fact Britney recovered really some way of making us able to describe what she went through any less of a problem? Thinking about celebrities, we’re all now acutely aware of the many celebrities that have lost their lives due to severe mental health problems through suicide and overdoses. Philip Hoffman, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe (who it is said, stated “I think I’m going crazy, and I don’t want to live”). And some familiar faces from our childhoods, Robin Williams and Mark Speight (presenter of SMart) – the latter who died in 2008, so in the same timeframe as Britney was receiving treatment. That’s just to name a few. Thoughts still go to their families and friends, who to this day must be feeling the immense loss of these talented individuals.

What does it take for a celebrity breakdown to go from something to ridicule to something to view as a tragedy? Do people really need to die before we recognise the suffering they are/were going through? Does it depend on the person and how much of a target we can make them? Or do we need to rethink our attitude towards mental health? I’m sure no one out there who dressed in any sort of similar costume really finds this that funny. So, maybe we all need to rethink how we treat mental illness and stop the stigma. If you still really want to go to a Halloween party dressed as a mentally ill person: maybe you should make it more accurate. See this Guardian article for ideas – maybe click on the links in it too for some more information (they’re all pretty good). If you still want to wear a straight jacket or dress up in a really cliched way as someone having a breakdown – go ahead. I won’t stop you. We live in a free society. I won’t even be ‘offended’. I, and many others, might be upset and horrified at your lack of thought and the fact you see this as fun, but I won’t stop you. I do have a right to express my own view on it though. And I’d hope you might take it on board (again, no pressure). Note, not even everyone who has suffered/is suffering with a mental health condition will even find these costumes at the very least insensitive. That doesn't make it ok though as there are thousands more who probably won't find it funny, who probably will note that this is likely to cause upset and at the very least continues to normalise how we often treat mental health conditions in the media. 

Halloween is a fun time. There are thousands of great costumes you could wear: in the last few years I have variously been to events as the Grey Lady of Hogwarts, a parrot (to match my boyfriend's pirate costume) and an owl. I don’t want to be marked as a spoilsport. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun. But, whilst October is the month of Halloween it is also Depression awareness month, and October the 10^th is World Mental Health Day. I DO want people to remember the struggles other people face, try to empathise and to try and change the world to make it a better place for everyone. 

If you, or anyone you know is struggling with mental health conditions, or you're struggling, don't have a diagnosis but need help, please visit your GP who will be able to advise further. There are also numerous charities/organisations out there who are available to listen if you need immediate help: see this NHS page for more information. Mental health conditions are real illnesses and you needn't be afraid to see help. You're also not alone. 

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Hello again!

I’ve actually been meaning to post for a couple of weeks – last year was hectic for a number of reasons and whilst I had hoped to continue blogging, it definitely fell by the wayside. However, back in time for my final year at uni, I’ve already got 2 articles lined up for you: one which was meant to be a way of saying “Hello, I’m back!” and another which is an article I’m writing for the Durham student newspaper, Palatinate, on charitable giving (that’s another thing – I’m diversifying from Physics – because Physicists aren’t one dimensional after all!). Look out for these in the coming weeks - fingers crossed I'm able to keep it up as I really enjoy blogging!