Halloween: Are We Perpetuating Stigma? | Embracing Balance

~ Nicole Lyons

Source: Halloween: Are We Perpetuating Stigma? | Embracing Balance

Published by Nicole Lyons

I am a world of uncertainties disguised as a girl.

7 thoughts on “Halloween: Are We Perpetuating Stigma? | Embracing Balance”

  2. Ok, here’s what I wrote: Outstanding post! I couldn’t agree with you more. I also appreciated the other great comments.

    Re: this topic – A few days ago I checked out my local town newspaper headlines only because I noticed a Halloween-related one and I love Halloween.
    I read that someone my age who graduated from my alma mater University of California at Santa Cruz had a successful company (Trick or Treat Studios) that produces high-end masks. “Cool” I muttered. Little did I know what I’d find….

    I clicked to read the article.
    I noticed the owner does business with a company called “Halloween Asylum”.
    I looked up that company’s website. When it popped up I said, “WTF???”

    Check out their link:

    http://www.halloweenasylum.com/

    Check out the picture on the home page.
    OMG
    SO OFFENSIVE!

    I started writing a scathing comment in response to the Sentinel article because their mention of the company Halloween Asylum and their blind eye to such offensive stigma is wrong on so many levels, but then I freaked out. This is a small town and I run a DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) chapter. I don’t know this dumbsh*t owner, and while I’m paranoid, I worry about the consequences of writing about how I feel. I usually speak up, but this time I held back. I guess I could write under anonymous. Maybe I will because this sickens me.

    I hoped someone else would comment – there are several comments in response to the article along with the owner’s two cents:

    http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/20151017/halloween-bet-pays-off-for-trick-or-treat-studios

    but nooooo…..they are going off about other things.

    Sigh.
    Thank you again for speaking up and for pointing to the truth as usual. It’s beyond inspiring and important!
    Dyane

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Okay, I caved and wrote the following comment – woo hoo!!

    Hi there Chris, I graduated from UCSC the same year as you.

    I love Halloween – it’s my favorite holiday bar none, and I was loving this article until I reached the paragraph that mentioned “Halloween Asylum”. I located the store’s website.

    I find the store name, the image on the website’s home page, & the tagline offensive and all of that perpetuates mental illness stigma.

    As someone who lives with mental illness and as the founder of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Santa Cruz County, I ask you to please consider doing business with stores that don’t stigmatize mental illness. Better yet, as I realize you have a good working relationship with Nancy Cote @ Halloween Asylum (and I doubt you’re going to drop the account) perhaps you could share my thoughts with her.

    Nancy could be progressive and change the store’s name etc., showing her community and beyond that it’s no longer cool to stigmatize mental illness; I doubt her revenue will drop with the name change, especially if she carries your merchandise, plus store names change all the time.

    I say it’s time for a change over @ Halloween Asylum.

    Thank you,

    Dyane Leshin-Harwood
    Founder, Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) of Santa Cruz County
    Member, International Society for Bipolar Disorders & The Marce Society for Perinatal Mental Health
    Author of “Birth of a New Brain – Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder” to be
    published by Post Hill Press, Fall, 2107

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Thanks! I will definitely let you know – Disqus notifies me if there’s a comment. I hope this guy realizes the importance of his response.If he blows it then I’m writing a Letter to the Editor and not to sound like a braggart but to be honest, every time I write a letter in this town, it gets published! I’ve had my letters published in the 3 most circulated papers the Sentinel, Good Times Weekly, & the Press Banner.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Wow, just wow! I’ve never seen these stigmatizing costumes and i am so thankful to the people who complained enough to get them taken off of the shelves. Great blog. Oh, and I won’t be coming to your cool haunted house. I hate Halloween LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

I'd love to hear from you.

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s