It's nearly Halloween again. You know what that means: horror movies hit theaters, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" comes back on the radio, haunted attractions spring up all over the place, costumes, costume parties, candy, and of course, the "Insane Asylum" attractions spring up just as frequently as the other haunted house attractions. There are even kids and adults in straightjacket costumes because they wanted to go as a "psycho" for Halloween.
Now, as an adult I sort of like Halloween. I don't like the scary stuff, but I do like the dark and moody festive vibe of the whole day. (I may also be dreaming of someday finally getting to go to a Masquerade Ball...) I also think it's hilarious to see people get their wits scared out of them at some Halloween haunted house attraction. I am by no means a Halloween hater. I'm just a Halloween observer instead of a Halloween partaker.
I do have one thing that I dislike about Halloween: the "Insane Asylum" attractions and the "psycho" straightjacket costumes. I don't like them simply because they use mental illness as a "scary" or "fun" thing. The fact that I still see these "Insane Asylum" attractions and the "psycho" Halloween costumes that consist of a straightjacket means that mental illness still isn't taken seriously and being treated as a real health condition. These attractions and costumes send out the message that people with mental health conditions like Dissociative Identity Disorder or Schizophrenia are scary monsters, instead of human beings with a brain that is unwell.
Think about it for a second: These "Insane Asylum" attractions have a distinct image they put out. Creaking beds and long, dark hallways. Pale, dirty, sinister people chained to walls, hiding in corners, strapped into straightjackets, screaming or muttering nonsense. Maybe those pale, dirty people even seem physically threatening, and they chase or pretend they may harm you. Sinister nurses and doctors in white lab coats loom with threatening instruments. You may even hear blood-curdling screams coming from some areas of the "Asylum" where patients are being "treated" for something. The attraction may even advertise that once you go in, you'll be lucky to make it out alive. Scary, right?
Now, I ask that you imagine you are someone that is suffering from suicidal ideation, psychosis, or a severe mental health condition so that a psychiatrist or therapist recommends that you go into a hospital for in-patient treatment. All you can imagine is a terrifying "asylum" atmosphere. I wouldn't want to go to some place that was always depicted like that, would you? I wouldn't want to be somewhere, where I thought I'd be put in a straightjacket or strapped down, would you? I'd only want to be treated like a human being. So, I'd probably go home (if I could leave the psychiatrist's office), and I'd suffer in silence instead of getting the help I desperately needed unless someone forced me into in-patient care. Then I would feel ashamed because everyone knows (from the movies, TV shows, and the "Insane Asylum" stereotypes), that if you go in the hospital that must mean you're completely crazy and possibly dangerous. The idea is terrifying for most people (myself included until I had a heart-to-heart with my therapist about what in-patient care was really like).
The "Insane Asylum" attractions and "psycho" straightjacket costumes keep the idea that people with mental health conditions are scary and dangerous alive and well. As a result of that stereotype, many, many people are too afraid to get help because they're afraid of the way the rest of the world will see them. If they do get help, the moment in-patient care is mentioned they are filled with so much fear and shame that they may just stop seeking treatment if the psychiatrist or therapist lets them leave the office. (I was one of those people. I was too afraid to get help because I was afraid I'd be locked away in a hospital for the rest of my life.)
I realize that so many people love these "Insane Asylum" attractions and the straightjacket costumes. I realize that they have been part of American Halloween "fun" for a long, long time. I also realize that it may seem like I am being picky and too sensitive by pointing out another aspect of the mental health stigma.
If you think I'm being too sensitive, ask yourself this, why don't they make "Crippled Person" costumes? Why don't they have a fake wheelchair or fake leg braces with a walker or crutches? Where are the ideas for how to "talk like a handicapped person" on Google? Why don't they have fake "Group Homes" for Halloween with physically and mentally disabled actors behaving in menacing and threatening ways? What about the sinister doctors offering up "treatments" for the handicapped residents that result in blood-curdling screams from the end of a long, dark hallway? There are none of those things.
If there was a "Group Home" attraction complete with disabled, scary people or a "crippled person" costume most people would be at least uncomfortable and at most extremely offended. People would react negatively because we all know it's wrong to use something like a disability for a "fun" scare or an attraction because it's wrong to make light of human suffering. It's so wrong to use something that hurts other people and makes them suffer in any way as something "fun" or scary because that isn't giving those suffering people the respect and dignity they deserve.
Mental health conditions and the people living with them deserve the same respect, but they don't get it. Every time an "Insane Asylum" attraction pops up or a kid or adult wanders around in a costume straightjacket, people with mental health conditions see their suffering made light of, and they see the fear society tells people to feel around a person with a mental health condition.
I'll end with this: Mental health conditions cause pain and suffering just like Cerebral Palsy causes pain and suffering. We all know it's wrong to treat human pain and suffering as something that can be used as a Halloween costume or a "fun" scary attraction. Those "Insane Asylum" attractions and the "psycho" straightjacket costumes seem harmless, but they aren't harmless. They actually send the message that people suffering with mental health conditions don't deserve the same dignity and respect as any other person who has any other health condition, and that, even after all this time, people with mental health conditions should still be feared by society. That isn't okay. Sending that message actually stops people from seeking treatment for their mental health condition. With this in mind, I hope we can all be mindful of the message we send out this Halloween.
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