One in four people are likely to experience some form of mental health issue every year and charity organisers aim to highlight the issues involved.
Mental Health Awareness Day next week aims to fight the stigma sufferers face and this year Liverpool will have events taking place all over the city.
The event comes only days after two UK retail chains, Adsa and Tesco faced a Twitter backlash for selling Halloween costumes named ‘psycho ward’ and ‘mental patient’. Mental illness sufferers took to Twitter using the trending hash tag #mentalpatient to voice their anger.
Twitter user ‘Skriblit’ said: “According to Asda, ‘Mental Patient’ is a suitably scary Halloween costume. Might dig out a jumper I wore to counseling – save a fortune.”
Another user, ‘sarah_robbo’ tweeted: “Did no one in a meeting @Asda suggest that branding a Halloween costume as ‘mental patient’ was unacceptable in 2013? #mentalhealth #stigma.”
Mental Health Awareness day takes place on 10th October and Liverpool Mental Health Consortium is just one of the many charities calling for change. Nearlly 500 people were admitted to Liverpool hospitals for mental health related issues between 2009 and 2012, more than any other North West city.
Williamson Square will take a central role with music performances, information stands and advice centres being made available free to the public. The Anglican Cathedral will also hold a service with guest speaker Reverend Ron Iveson.