Mental Health.

Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between “crazy” and “creative” in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers. Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity. Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to “cure” an otherwise brilliant mind. Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney’s memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist’s work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.

Presents in graphic novel format first-person perspectives on the experiences of mental illness, portraying the myths, stigmas, and dynamics of a range of psychiatric conditions.

Using close visual analysis of drawings, artist interviews, critical analysis and exegesis, Drawing Investigations examines how artists use drawing as an investigative tool to reveal information that would otherwise remain unseen and unnoticed. How does drawing add shape to ideas? How does the artist accommodate to challenges and restraints of a particular environment? To what extent is a drawing complementary and continuous with its subject and where is it disruptive and provocative? Casey and Davies address these questions while focusing on artists working collaboratively and the use of drawing in challenging or unexpected environments. Drawing Investigations evaluates the emergence of a way of thinking among an otherwise disconnected group of artists by exploring commonalities in the application of analytical drawing to the natural world, urban environment, social forces and lived experience. Examples represent a spectrum of research in international contexts: an oceanographic Institute in California, the archives of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the Antarctic Survey, geothermal research in Japan and the Kurdish diaspora in Iraq. Issues are situated in the contemporary theory and practice of drawing including relationships to historical precedents. By exploring drawing's capacity to capture and describe experience, to sharpen visual faculties and to bridge embodied and conceptual knowledge, Drawing Investigations offers a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice.

Write that sh*t down! Keep anxiety and depression in check with tons of totally doable mental health tips and techniques included here. You'll find some silly things, some serious things, some resources and exercises—oh, and a whole page of STICKERS to use throughout your journal. The author HATES journaling. This is the journal she wishes she had had when first starting out in therapy. From the creator of Just Peachy Comics, this interactive self-care book uses journaling, drawing, and goal-tracking to help improve the user's overall mental health and well-being. The journal will introduce you to a variety of therapy practices such as CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy) and EMDR. It will also illustrate the author's “dot method” of goal tracking to help reduce anxiety. These inviting pages include checklists, doodle boxes, gratitude prompts, goal pages, supportive characters, encouragement, resources on how to get through anxiety attacks, and more. This is a journal for anyone feeling down, looking for some extra support, or just trying to stay positive and practice daily self-care.