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Vogue Portugal pulls ‘madness’ cover following criticism of its portrayal of mental illness

Vogue Portugal
Vogue Portugal

Vogue Portugal has removed one of its four covers for July/August 2020 and said it “deeply apologises” after the image prompted a huge backlash online.

Titled 'The Madness Issue', the cover showed a psychiatric hospital with a woman sitting naked in a bathtub as two nurses dressed in old-fashioned uniforms poured water over her head.

After the magazine was accused of insensitivity for its stereotypical and outdated portrayal of mental illness, Vogue Portugal announced that it would be removing the image and offered an apology.

“On such an important issue such as mental health we cannot be divided,” the magazine wrote on Instagram a few days after the cover was released on social media.

“Vogue Portugal has taken the decision to pull one of the four covers of our July/August issue, which depicts a scene of a psychiatric hospital as well as the inside cover story based around the topic of mental health,” the publication continued.

“Vogue Portugal deeply apologises for any offence or upset caused by this photo shoot. On reflection, we realise that the subject of mental health needs a more thoughtful approach. We sincerely apologise for this.”

The cover was immediately met with criticism on social media when Vogue Portugal posted it to Instagram late last week. Many people called it “offensive” and “distasteful,” while one person condemned the magazine for glamorizing “A depiction of mental health treatment that harks back to archaic, traumatic therapies.”

Portuguese model Sara Sampaio also weighed in on the row, sharing a video to her IGTV over the weekend explaining why the cover was damaging to anyone with mental health issues.

“That cover was very triggering for me because of the way usually mental health is treated in the news, especially in Portugal,” Sampaio said, sharing that she had previously experienced mistreatment from the Portuguese press after opening up about panic attacks.

“I had an incredible response from my friends, but I was immediately followed by a s**t ton of articles from [the] Portugal press saying that my career was over because of my panic attacks, that my career was in danger because of my panic attacks,” Sampaio explained. "Obviously, everything was false, but as someone who is going through really high anxiety and panic attacks, having to deal with that on top was very damaging,” she said.

“There are so many magazines in Portugal that still use those clickbait titles and articles, and those are very damaging - not just for me, but for everyone that suffers from the same thing,” she explained.

“Mental health is not something that should be glamorized and it’s definitely not something that should be touched in an irresponsible way. There’s no shame to see a psychiatrist, a therapist,” Sampaio said, adding, “There is no shame in asking for help.”