Mental Health Humor and Cartoons

  Mental Health Humor : The Fine Line Between Genius and Insanity

In the news, there is  an uproar in the mental health and in organizations such as The Special Olympics and The American Association of People with Disabilities over a movie. They are up in arms and upset because of the overly stigmatic use of a word that is “liberal usage of a disparaging term used to describe the mentally disabled in the movie.” Now no doubt, I’m sure he (Ben Stiller) and his writers did not set out to isolate one group.  Since, the movie is also offensive on so many other levels.  Robert Downey Jr., plays a black man and even said “If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you’d called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago. If you don’t do it right, we’re going to hell.”

May be this is what Ben was going for… he has claimed to be Bipolar, and dealing with mental disorders but does this give him or any one else the right to make such blatant discriminating statements?  I know, many of my fellow bloggers from Today.com, have already commented on this.  I for one, will hold off on my opinion till when/if I see the movie.  But it brings up a good point.  One I myself struggle with here about the cartoons.  Let’s face it, doing cartoons about mental health and humor is a fine line.

Where does the humor end and the discrimination begin?   I took a poll… I sent out about 1000 e-mails to professionals in the mental health field, consumers, and caregivers.  The question was “Is humor healthy?” And “Can it help heal?”  Of the replies I got, not one said no. Many went on about how much humor can help one’s healing and well-being.  Then, I asked about mental health humor… I got many mixed ideas and thoughts.  See, this is serious stuff!  If you don’t think so, then pick up a paper. I’m sure you will read some where in it a tragic story about some one with a mental illness.   So having a venue to openly talk about this subject and add a little laughter is some what unique.

So, what I try to do, is avoid picking on any one person… well, other than myself.  I try to write and draw from my heart.  Be kind and avoid stigmatizing any one group or disorder.

What about you? How do you determine where humor ends and the (possible) discrimination begins?

Permission granted for non-profit use by artist: Chato B. Stewart.

^^^ When using this cartoon on your non-profit blog you must link us.^^^
Thanks for dropping by:

Chato B. Stewart
Mental Health Advocate - Cartoonist - and a few other things!
http://www.mentalhealthhumor.com

“Using Humor to Heal and Educate with badly drawn cartoons.”

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