NAMI members have alerted us to the fact that some
shops in the tourist area around Fisherman's Wharf
and Pier 39 in San Francisco are selling shirts and other
souvenirs with the insignia "Alcatraz Psycho (or
Psychiatric or Psych Ward/Unit) Outpatient."
This phrase mocks people who, through no fault of their
own, suffer from an organic brain disorder. Brain disorders
are an illness just like cancer or heart disease which we
would never mock in such a fashion. Such insignia reflect
the very ignorance and insensitivity which NAMI is
dedicated to eliminating through education, advocacy and
outreach.
We need your help to protest the sale of such merchandise.
Let the shops selling these items know your opposition
to these products. Two shops to start with
are The Shirtique/Krazy Kaps and the Cable Car Store,
both at Pier 39, at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
(www.crazyhatsandties.com; www.cablecarstore.com).
NAMI-SF pledges to recognize and commend on its website
all shops who respond to our call for an end to fostering
such stigma by removing this offensive merchandise.
Thank you for helping us stamp out stigma that surrounds
brain disorders."
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NAMI StigmaBuster Alert: October 4, 2007
By Stella March, NAMI
(article also found in Out of the Fog November 07 edition)
Help CANVAS Fight Stigma – No Matter Where You Live
During Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct 7-13), the movie CANVAS will be released in five cities. Whether it succeeds will depend on how well it plays at the box office—in terms of tickets sold. The test will be in Chicago and New York on October 12, followed by Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and Phoenix on October 19. If Friday and Saturday ticket sales run high, the release will expand to 200 cities nationwide.
Starring award-winning actors Marcia Gay Harden and Joe Pantoliano, CANVAS is the story of a family's struggle with schizophrenia. The film educates as well as entertains. It will strike a blow against stigma, but only if enough people see it.
The NAMI Advocate has suggested ways to help. You don't even have to live in one of the five cities. Here are the key ones:
Go see the movie if you live in those metro areas
Spread the word! Email family and friends in the five cities about the film this week!
Buy tickets on-line early during the week before each opening. Donate tickets to others.
Theater locations currently are available for four of the five cities. Check local listings for Ft. Lauderdale as the date approaches.
In Chicago, starting Oct 12: AMC Loews 600 North Michigan 9, 600 N. Michigan Ave. 60611
In New York, starting Oct12: Regal Union Square Stadium 14, 850 Broadway, 10003
In Los Angeles, starting Oct 19: Laemmie Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Boulevard, 90046
In Phoenix, starting Octo19: Harkins Shea 14, 7354 E. Shea Blvd, (Scottsdale) 85260
Modeling Straitjackets
On October 3, "America's Next Top Model" featured contestants "perfecting their runway walk" while wearing straitjackets, as part of a competition to prove they can make it in "the high-stress, high-stakes world of supermodeling." The set was a mock, abandoned psychiatric ward and the modeling coach, dressed as a nurse, scolded them not to walk "like the former patients of this hospital."
The CW Television Network needs to know:
The episode was outrageous—mocking people with mental illnesses. Would the show ever use a cancer ward as the setting for a modeling test?
Straitjackets represent extremely painful, traumatic experiences. Their image is hurtful to individuals and families who struggle with mental illness.
Using straitjackets for entertainment demeans individual dignity and trivializes mental illness.
Straitjackets are often associated with violence. Their image reinforces the kind of stigma that the U.S. Surgeon General has found to be a major barrier to people seeking help when they need it.
Rick Mater
Senior Vice-President for Broadcast Standards
The CW Television Network
220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
feedback@CWTV.com
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