URBAN OUTFITTERS Just a short post randomly written to highlight some concerns.. Until today I had not really been too familiar with the Urban Outfitters brand, however yesterday I did in a terrible way. I will be sending them an email shortly and will put their reply up here, however first there is the proceess of filling you in. (I have actually sent the email inbetween writing this and await their reply). They have manafactured or asked someone to manafacture on their behalf, a T-shirt with the word "Depression" written all over it. Now perhaps you may be wondering if I have too much spare time on my hands, which could not be further from the truth nor further from irrelevance. I am worried if you do not see the problem... Perhaps it is some dodgy publicity stunt but it was sure to get peoples attention and upset people. Now I am not one to count how many people are following me before I decide whether to do something, all my life I have counted on the fact I have been alone with my decisions and deal with them by myself, however the petition someone greatly set up on Twitter has already got over 200 signatures so I am not alone in this, not that I thought I would be in this case but my point is I would feel just as strongly if one girl/boy/man/woman came up to me and told me they were upset, in this case we already have hundreds. Illness is terrible and sometimes seemingly overpowering. Illness is a struggle that sometimes seems never ending, just when you think you have the cure...a new "Strain" of Depression comes back, that is how it is for many of us. Of course there is hope and people are getting better all the time and it is most amazing to see, the point is this is all very delicate and distressing, not to confuse you, there certainly is hope for every single one of us but I am firmly believe behaviour from this company is detrimental to recovery, mood etc. You may not be bothered, you may have depression or you may not, however everybody reacts differently. A quick Google search will reveal other people have picked up on the T-shirt and I am proud of the girl who created the petition and anyone else giving their sympathies and/or support. Let us say...they wanted to print the T-shirt so people with depression could show they are not ashamed of who they are or that they are ill. Well, let us dissect that bit by bit. Firstly, I am not a depressed, delusional, obsessively compulsed etc man. I am a man who suffers with depression, OCD etc. Did you miss the difference? The point is they are not a part of us but rather came to us anyway, and that certainly does not mean hide away our illnesses, that can be most dangerous. But that you are not "That depressed guy", you are not that "Eating disorder person", that sounds most offensive or to me it would anyway, rather you are an individual bravely battling against these things and so (Just trying to see it from a hypothetical angle of theirs) if they say the T-shirt was to proudly claim you are suffering from this, it strikes me as odd. I thought the goal is to STOP suffering? From a confidence perspective, ok it's good to show you are not ashamed of being ill...however this is my next point. I have discovered they also sold or are selling still, a T-shirt with the words "Eat less." So their attitude seems to be one of recklessness...remember...depression and any mental illness is VERY delicate often. I know I may have many readers who are not sure how to understand this...well take that feeling of upset and times it by 100. Take that one second feeling of hopelessness and extend it by a year. I think you get the point, that's just a random idea to help you understand just one small way it can affect some people. Ok, so you might say I am getting ridiculous asking us to be careful with just two common words now because they were wrongly joined together. Again, you may be missing something. The point is the energy behind it. I have seen no link from Urban Outfitters to Mental Health Charities explaining their motives, instead we have confused individuals on Twitter and elsewhere wondering why they are being so insensitive as to print the first T-shirt I mentioned, as for the second, that is worrying. Ok, hold on and I will explain. If I write a book about my friends struggle with an eating disorder generally people will be fine reading it as it is a healthy discussion designed to help people out (Again not leaving out anyone, if just one person is uncomfortable that would be bad.), so while I would never print a T-shirt with the words "Eat less" on for so many reasons, you would at least know that I am a mental health campaigner and would be doing it for some beneficial reason to everyone, whereas here we have a clothing brand with from what I understand (I may be wrong) no connection to mental health, past or present, or certainly not a healthy one anyway! So obviously there is a big difference! Even people who do not know me personally or that well, can see on Twitter and Facebook numerous tweets (Tweets for the former, Posts for the latter naturaly) related to this kind of thing and even still I would not assume all was well, if I was printing such a T-shirt I would be making it extremely clear WHY. Why would you not? The WHY makes all the difference. Do you see what I mean now? Where is the defence, or rather why BEFOREHAND was there not an explanation or further still, why not ASK people if they think selling these products would be such a good idea? Perhaps they do not care about brand reputation. Regardless, an innocent mistake or not this is not acceptable. If you are going to bring up such a sensitive issue MAKE DAMN SURE you have the explanation ready. Now of course, this blog is not about stopping a 7 year old girl who recites the word "Depression" without understanding it or a 10 year old boy who thinks he is helping but somehow (Just hypothetical scenario) makes something worse and so on...that is innocence. This is a well established company that is trading I do believe in at least the United Kingdom and the United States, two nations that have countless mental health charities, people diagnosed with mental illness (and some ill but yet to be diagnosed as well of course) and basically despite the odd peoples issues, the subject is generally quite well received and understood, with Britain home to a few Mental health hospitals, High dependency units and other help (Naturally I know less about America as I live over here, they may well have similar places too, I am sure they do) available in hospitals, clinics and so on. This is a company that surely somewhere along the line...has at least one staff member who must decide whether an item is suitable for sale. Why did this pass? Well just gonna leave it like this for now and will add more later maybe. Keep safe and healthy :)