Local NAMI members in California protest Psycho Donuts

From the San Jose Mercury News. In the picture, John Mitchem, left, and Brian Miller of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness pass out`stigma-free doughnuts in front of Psycho Donuts.

Positioned in front of Psycho Donuts on S. Winchester Boulevard, local mental health advocates were making sure their concerns were heard.

They spent their morning passing out "stigma-free" doughnuts to customers headed into the shop to purchase pastries with names like "Bipolar" and "Cereal Killer.

"The purpose is to educate the community about mental health concerns about Psycho Donuts. We're not trying to shut the place down, just raising concern," said Patty Eaton of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center.

The controversy about the corner doughnut shop has taken on new life in recent weeks, with mental health advocates unable to sit down with owners of the shop and, subsequently, taking a more proactive approach.

But most customers of the shop were not as concerned. One by one on May 3, they stopped by the shop, many of them bringing their kids along, to enjoy the shop's doughnuts and attractions.

One Campbell resident visiting the shop on Saturday had checked it out online and thought he would give it a try. He said that he understood why some people find it offensive but didn't think there was any intention to hurt anybody.

Some passersby had differing views.

"They show people taking pictures in a straitjacket, but they don't know what it's like to be mentally ill. It's a stigma," said Campbell resident Timothy Kemp, whose family has had a long history of mental illness.

Brian Miller, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, was passing out letters from NARSAD, the world's leading charity to mental health research. The letter was addressed to the owners of Psycho Donuts, letting them know that their donation to the charity had to be refunded because "we can't allow NARSAD's name to be used to justify your portrayal of mental illness."

Miller said the shop would never have opened or would be shut down by now if it played off any other disease.

"Imagine a shop that made fun of cancer; it wouldn't be funny," he said.

Miller added that the last thing they would want is for the shop to go out of business, but he wants people to understand the underlying damage being done.

"We don't want to shut down their business. We want to see small business thrive; we just think there's a more tactful way to do it, a more responsible way," Miller said. "If your products are good enough, people will come back — even without the theme."

The shop's owners, meanwhile, maintain that the community at large enjoys the shop's creative creations and does not find the doughnuts or the shop's theme offensive.

"There's a fine line, I think, between having a sense of humor and not, and we're really just looking at doing something that's light-hearted and fun," co-owner Jordan Zweigoron said. "It's a misunderstanding; people are drawing direct parallels between what we're doing and having a deeper meaning, but there's not one."

Zweigoron did not say if he would agree to local groups' requests for meetings, but said that there have been "some interesting conversation that's been encouraging, but it's still early in the process. The way to bridge that gap is going to take a little bit of time."

Caught in the middle is the city of Campbell, which has heard from advocacy groups and residents but cannot enforce any changes to the shop or its theme. Later this month the city is sponsoring a workshop at the community center in recognition of Mental Health Month.

"It's a fact that this issue has been highlighted so much in our community, and there was concern that we weren't responding or taking action," said Councilman Dan Furtado, one of the organizers of the event. "It's difficult for us to take action, but at least we can show that we are sensitive to the mental health issue by sponsoring something that supports that."