New California Mental Illness-Themed Donut Shop, Psycho Donuts, Does Brisk Business
Mental Health Advocates Say that Psycho Donuts Stigmatizes the Mentally Ill
On its website, Psycho Donuts claims it "...has taken donuts to the next demented level. We bid a fond farewell to the tired, round ring of lameness, and the drab, time-weathered environment of donut past. Psycho Donuts has taken the neighborhood donut and put it on medication, and given it shock treatment."
Several things about Psycho Donuts are repugnant to mental health advocates besides the shop's name. The names of the donuts themselves for one thing. One is called Bipolar. The Bipolar Donut is covered with chocolate. The chocolate is covered with nuts on one half and coconut flakes on the other. Another donut is named Psycho and a third is the M.H.T. or Massive Head Trauma donut.
Customers are served by counter help who wear nurses' uniforms, and the shop is equipped with a padded booth and a straight jacket. Patrons, including children, are encouraged to sit in the chair and have their photo taken. You can take donuts out, have them delivered, or stay inside and eat them in the group therapy area.
Psycho Donuts posts a new original video on its website each week. This week's video flashed ink blots on the screen, like those used in the Rorschach Test, and asked the viewer what he or she thought each meant.
The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) California have voiced their opposition to the Psycho Donuts and have lodged complaints with the State of California.
NAMI California Director, Grace McAndrews had the following to say about Psycho Donuts.
"This is the most egregious example of negligent consumerism that continues to promote stereotypes and discrimination in our society, You don't see malt shops called the "Heart Attack Café" or tobacco shops called "Cancer Time". When you stigmatize mental illness and shame consumers, those that need help are too afraid to seek it. And then people die."
Apparently, a lot of people don't have a problem with the shop's name or ambiance. The owners are laughing all the way to the bank as the shop does a swift business on weekdays and has lines going out the door on weekends.
A petition drive has been initiated to get the owners of Psycho Donuts to change its name. But that will be difficult since the owners have sunk their life savings into the venture.
Published by Dan Weaver
I am an antiquarian bookseller and free-lance writer. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in Literature. View profile
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- Psycho Donuts www.psycho-donuts.com/home/
- NAMI California www.namicalifornia.org/index.aspx?lang=ENG
- The Petition www.thepetitionsite.com/302/petition-to-remove-psycho-donuts
16 Comments
Post a CommentI fail to find anything offensive in Psycho Donuts.
Dan is right!!! I don't care if your mother is a social worker, what, does that make you more educated than me, who HAS bipolar disorder? If a shop about cancer isn't funny then a shop about this isn't either and anyone who says making fun of cancer isn't funny but making fun of mental illness is obviously doesn't realize they are both ILLNESSES!
This does sound unique and interesting, and many flavors sound like they might actually be good, but is all that worth being so offensive and cruel regarding the mentally ill?
FYI. A new blog has started up to combat the stigmatizing of the mentally ill. Its address is http://psychodonuts.wordpress.com
Mentally ill people have talked to me about the subject, and they are not amused. The fact that your mother is a social worker does not mean either your or she have empathy or knowledge of the mentally ill. Read the petition and the comments on it. Google other articles on the subject, and you will find I am not the only one who feels this way. Conversation going nowhere and is over.
When you sell a bipolar donut in a shop named Psycho Donuts, complete with padded cell and straight jacket, you are implying that bipolar people are psycho, which is not true. If you had read both articles, you would have known that. If you had any sense of empathy and compassion, you would not even have had to read my articles to know that. Why don't you google Psycho Donuts or read the petition to see that there are other people who find this problematic.
Dan, it isn't bigotry, it is a sense of humor. Being the son of a social worker and dealing with and working with her clients, I have had plenty of exposure to people with mental illness, social issues, alcoholism, drug addition, etc. One thing I know is these people were all much less sensitive to this type of humor than people like you who claim to stand up for them. Now you can fly off the handle and throw out words to shock people, it still doesn't make your argument. People like to laugh, especially at themselves, and if you can't handle that, you may need to look at yourself a little closer and figure out why.
(continuation of last comment) not my article which is totally accurate (simply stating facts) but your attitude toward the mentally ill, which is as wrong as a white bigot's attitude is toward Blacks. It's not my article you need to address; it's your own bigotry you need to deal with.
P.S. to my last comment. By the way what stereotypes are being perpetuated by the shop anyway, that someone with bipolar disorder is a chocolate covered donuts with nuts and coconut on it? The shop is about crazy/unusual/psycho donuts, not about making fun of crazy people, and if you went there and talked to the owners and workers you would have learned that.
I have no problem with people posting opinion articles based on their beliefs. I do have a problem with people posting "news" articles without taking the time to do the research and get the facts, and I think that is what you were doing here. You give facts about the shop as though you have first hand knowledge, when in fact you live on the other side of the country and have only seen it through a "research tool" most known for showing mentos dropped in soda bottles.