Recently, on social media, the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists offered advice to somebody who had a blood-stained garment.
The President said “Soak in cold water overnight. BIOTEX is really good but not sure if you can still buy it”
I once wrote an Editorial for the British Journal of Psychiatry in which I shared a number of considerations on stigma. My editorial was rejected. In my introduction I said:
“. . . one is left wondering where we are now given campaigns to tackle stigma such as ‘Changing Minds,’[4] ‘See Me’[5] and ‘Time to Change’.[6] Is the story of the last ten years a tale of ‘benign professional progress?’[7] Has our profession led us out into the light and free of the dark stain of stigma? Has the biological and genetic paradigm as the prevailing explanation of mental illness helped in this? Do we really have meaningful engagement with users, sufferers, patients, and carers?”
I have also written about another form of “stain” in relation to UK paid-opinion leaders and lack of full transparency of competing financial interests:
BIOTEX: a Biological Stain Remover.