UK clothing chain Joy recently introduced a product with the slogan “Don’t get mad, take lithium”. Arms were taken up, with many calling for the chain to apologise for trivialising a significant issue, while the anti-PC brigade predictably churned out storm-in-a-teacup commentary. Before telling you what I think, let’s talk about what the slogan means.

I loved lithium as a wee schoolboy – a cheesy-soft whitish metal that has siblings in the family of alkali metals including sodium and potassium. My mates and I loved it because of its highly reactive properties. That’s to say ...

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