Sorry mate I just don't abide ignorance like that.
FWIW I'd like to think more of our brethren would be just as quick to shout down an idiot like that on the terraces!

Climb down off your pious high horse, breathe and relax. There that's better

A little pious maybe, but there has to be a line; taking the pi55 out of a lad who's suffered from a debilitating mental illness, in my view, crosses that line.

Ok...you've all made your feelings known, now......



, and can we get back on topic please ??

Andy Goram probably had a good chuckle to himself, he had a mental illness not a sense of humour bypass. As for the 2 for 1 gag whilst not particularly subtle it was more tongue in cheek than malicious to be fair

Isn't it time you finally caught some snatch and got laid?

Why would that be?

I don't want to be the voice of the outraged moral majority, but having worked in mental health for 20 years, I never met anyone who 'had a good chuckle' when other people took the pi55 out of their mental illness; I'm sorry to be po-faced, but it just isn't funny.

I totally agree. There are no reasons for people to have a go at mental illness - i bet there are people we work with that have illness we dont even know about. people are slating metal illness and yet there is that new rfl thing about helping players with issues thats been advertised on sky sports. Something that had it been in place could have helped terry newton.

I agree.
It's not nice generally and it isn't very inviting for Mr Smith either.

Let's leave this one alone.

Then you havent met the girl i work with!!!
Her, her brother and her father are all diagnosed as suffering from bi polar, and they are 90% of the time, taking the pi$$ out of themselves, each other and the world in general, it really is like crazy olympics at times, one trying to out do the others!!!
The other 10% however all rules are off, and you cant say a word to them, because they are so depressed its untrue.
Not wishing to detract from your point Bren, because, im sure life is tough enough for them at times and if they dont want to be the but of a joke they shouldnt have to be, end of!!
However you should see them, they're like something of Little Britain!!!!

That's the nub of it I suppose - there's a huge difference between laughing at yourself and being laughed at by others.

Again, I don't usually take this kind of moral stance, but given what I know about bi-polar disorder and some of the things I've seen as a result of it (first on the scene at 3 suicides attempts, 2 of which were successful) I find it repugnant that for some, the illness is still a source of cheap laughs.

For mine, Tim Smith has fought back from a condition that can be totally debilitating and still has a massive social stigma attached; for that he deserves respect, not ridicule.

bren2k is spot on here i think.

can i remind you all of the excellent state of mind campaign about respect in this area.

But that's the point though, there's a huge difference between mocking someone or making light of their problems and making a relatively gentle gag around the issue of mental illness.

It wasn't a 'relatively gentle' gag - it was someone trotting out a tired old cliche that's based on a misconception about one of the most serious and debilitating mental illnesses there is; to make matters worse, he got the wrong mental illness.

I'm in unfamiliar territory here - I don't do outraged very often - but I can see nothing amusing about mocking people in this context; as for the football example - the thought of a few thousand football fans chanting abuse at a player following a mental breakdown is just repugnant.

Perhaps I'm getting old, but I just don't think it's right.

The few thousand of his own supporters chanting his name? Wasn't aware it was intended as abuse to be honest more a term of endearment

I'm totally with bren2k here, I've followed this thread quietly for a bit starting off as mildly outraged and then almost getting to speechless. Bren I fully support everything you've said.

To me that sounds more like a symptom of the condition than a justification for mocking it.

I dont know, i'm certainly no expert, and as i am reliably informed, there is no such thing as medical fact only medical opinion, so the experts dont "know" either.
I suppose its horses for courses, i think the world would be a better place if we could all take the pi$$ out of each other without either an element of oppression or paranoia being involved.

The pub i frequent, its just pi$$ take from the minute you walk in to the minute you walk out, and nobody complains, because nobody has any particular angle, if your'e a tw@, then your'e a tw@ and someone tells you, or you already know it.
Its a shame humour has to suffer as a result of anything but equally its a shame anyone should feel demeaned for any reason too.
I'm all for fattys, gingers, blacks, gays, disabled's, mental's, jews, catholics, muslims....................................as long as they're decent human beings.

The comedian Richard Herring has some good comedy values, that only upset the intollerant, who are generally trying to pontificate that they aren't being so!!!
Christ on a bike and Hitler moustache are a couple of good live stand up DVDs of his, equally google him for some good clips on T'internet.
Ray Peacock is another one.

2 different conditions each one as cruel and misunderstood as the other

Any one that thinks mental illness is a joke should have to live with it and its effects every day and the strain it puts on life.Dont think because you have got this far in life it cant happen to you and if it did you would not be of the opinion its a joke as life takes on a whole new look and way.

By the rationale you are endorsing then I think you need to rethink your sig. Just a thought

Wow! no really wow thats some 1960s statement there!!

Tim Smith is one of us and yet some people are taking the out of the lad. I am sure he knows all about his mental illness and is used to the insensitive pigs who comment on the matter.

I am sure it was meant as a joke, but I have zero tolerance to that type of humour.

What does this zero tolerance involve?