Mirdif City Centre tweeted the below tweet yesterday and understandably, since then, it’s garnered quite a few negative responses. The tweet itself shows an image of a gleeful looking woman with a shopping trolley. The advertorial copy then says “Depression increases your risk for a heart attack, especially if you’re a woman. Indulge in some shopping therapy.”

Obviously, this was probably meant to be a light hearted tweet intending for people to ‘make themselves feel better’ by going out shopping and in all likelihood was not meant to cause offence. 

However, when you look at the bigger picture, in a community that is trying its best to de-stigmatize mental health illnesses, to not only compare a serious illness with a low mood but to go on and say that it can be cured by going on a shopping spree, is unacceptable and quite frankly, disgusting.

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This is the “ad” in question encouraging consumers to go shopping

And here are the responses…

The tweet has since been deleted.

If you have been affected by any of the above or if you would like to know more about mental health services in the UAE please visit https://www.dha.gov.ae/en/Page…