What To Do If Corporations Promote Mental Health Stigma

Sometimes corporations promote mental health stigma. I saw an example of this recently and knew I had to write about it. Corporations may not know they promote mental health stigma but sometimes they do it anyway.

T Shirt Village Promotes Mental Health Stigma on Amazon

I learned today that Amazon is allowing the sale of shirts that poke fun at and perpetuate the stigma of mental illnesses, in particular, suicide. A third party seller called T-Shirt Village has posted and is selling t-shirts which read “Suicide Watch” while depicting a figure on a chair about to hang himself while another figure sits watching with popcorn.

While I’d like to think it’s a political commentary on the fact the mental illnesses and suicide are not taken seriously, I have a feeling it isn’t and that the vast majority of people won’t see it that way.

So what do we do in the wake of this kind of mental health stigma from a big corporate entity? (Yes, Amazon is a third party seller, but by allowing the posting and sales of these shirts, Amazon seems to be condoning, or at least excusing or ignoring, the hurtful message.) What can we do when corporations promote mental health stigma?

How to Combat Corporations Promoting Mental Health Stigma

1. Leave a comment on the product or send an email to the seller/creator. In this case, it’d be double duty of both getting in touch with Amazon for hosting the product and also T-Shirt Village for creating it, but reaching out and letting these companies know something like this is unacceptable is key. Give them the reasons why mental health stigma must end and make clear that you are both upset by the product and that you would like it removed. Even leave some information to educate about the seriousness of mental illnesses and how products like this only promote more stigma.
2. Bring in the human element. Mental health stigma often happens because people don’t see how real people are affected by it. By humanizing the issue, the idea and problem goes from abstract to concrete. If you’re comfortable, share how it affects you personally (The Stigma Of Admitting I Am Affected By Mental Illness).
3. Share about the stigma you have discovered. Let the people in your social circles know about what you’ve found and hopefully they will speak out against it, too (Images For The Stand Up For Mental Health Campaign). Share how products that disregard the sensitivity of mental illness are unacceptable and how they need to be taken down before too much damage can be done.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental illness or thoughts of suicide, please read these valuable resources and reach out (Reasons People Call a Suicide Crisis Hotline).

You can find Laura on Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Facebook and her blog; also see her book, Project Dermatillomania: The Stories Behind Our Scars.