A KEY mental health charity has welcomed the rebranding of a Perth Royal Show ride named after a mental health institution.
THE Bethlem Sanatorium attraction will now be called Mayhem Manor, with a haunted house theme and all references to mental illness removed.
SANE Australia CEO Jack Heath said The Royal Agricultural Society of WA should be recognised for listening to the many voices representing people with a mental illness. “We appreciate that there was no intention to cause harm in the staging of this attraction and we appreciate the timely decision on and action undertaken to rectify our concerns,” he said in a statement. London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital is recognised as one of the world’s oldest hospitals for the treatment of mental illness. It was in 1403 that Bethlem was first referred to as a hospital for “insane” patients, and since then it has had a continuous history of caring for people with mental health issues.