Clothes shop Joycriticised for stocking offensive greetings card but then causes even more offence with response on Twitter

A Scottish mental health charity has hit out at a fashion retailer for trying to make a joke out of bipolar disorder.

UK high street clothes retailer Joy received a barrage of abuse on Twitter at the weekend for stocking a gift card with the slogan “don’t get mad, take lithium”.

As lithium is used as medication to help stabilise mood swings one user pointed out to the company's social media people that some people with bipolar may find it offensive but was bizarrely told not to buy the card for them then.

Joy, which has stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh, further infuriated people by saying people with bipolar would possibly “like it one minute and hate it the next”.

The company later tweeted an apology adding it tries to be “irreverent” but sometimes gets it wrong.

That didn't stop a number of people complaining about the company including a number of mental health campaigners.

See Me Scotland, a charity dedicated to ending the stigma of mental health, said it was disappointed in Joy for stocking the card and for the way it reacted to complaints.

A spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Joy thinks mental illness is an appropriate subject for humour on a greeting card.

“However we were more shocked to see how the company reacted when concerns were raised on social media.

“The lack of sensitivity towards those who may suffer from this illness is very disappointing to see.”

The charity added it had contacted Joy asking it to reconsider stocking the card and urged others to do so.