What, me worry?

Comics and mental health

Even Alfred E. Newman has his breaking point…from Norman Bingo for MAD Magazine

2024…it’s been a year, huh? Mental health seems to be more on our minds (yuk, yuk?) than ever, and as someone very newly in the mental health profession (practicing therapist as of August!), I (Nora) became interested in how my old love, comics, could potentially interact with my new vocation. As I dove into some research, I realized how rich the field of comics in therapy could be.

On the eve of Thanksgiving break, Amaris and I wanted to share some findings as well as an exercise you can do to harness the unique properties of comics for the good of your mental health.

Some Findings

The field of graphic medicine certainly speaks to the therapeutic properties of reading and making comics, and the official Graphic Medicine site, has some wonderful resources on comics and therapy. One such that drew my eye was a thorough overview of comics in art therapy, by Katherine Joy Houpt, who, at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, created the first known graphic medicine based class in an art school setting.

Some recommendations she has for the use of comics in therapy include:

1.) acknowledging the medium of comics can communicate meaning in different ways than words alone can and

2.) learning about “the history of comics as resistance to neoliberal models of care” from Helen Sandler, a professor of mental health at the University of Central Lancashire. In this sample chapter, Sandler discusses the role of humor in comics as a kind of subversion that critiques the status quo, power imbalances, and the use of traditional academic/medical language.

From Mad Zines

Speaking of Sandler, she has a lively and illuminating discussion with Meg John-Barker about Mad Zines, a project that examines the role of zines in questioning how mental health knowledge is created and used. These zines can help reduce feelings of isolation and encourage connection and conversation around topics that might otherwise seem taboo or unacknowledged. They also can be educational and demystify health conditions and or shine light on medical misconceptions.

From Mad Zines

From Mad Zines

And, multiple articles and theses examined how comics can both conceptualize and “re-story” (a term used in narrative therapy) their lives, meaning to find alternative stories and unique outcomes in one’s life story.

Our activity tries to harness this particular re-storying power of comics.

Comic Activity

Draw yourself and your anxiety having a conversation.

1. Give your anxiety a name. This name could be a human name or something more sonic.

2. Give your anxiety a shape/body.

3. Start a comic by greeting your anxiety, then engage in a conversation driven by curiosity. Ask what they are doing there, what behaviors they want to trigger, where it comes from, its favorite snack or pastime. Have fun with your comic anxiety! Maybe you are on a park bench, or maybe the two of you are bowling as your conversation unfolds. How can changing the situation of the conversation introduce a little levity into your conversation?

4. At some point, attempt a re-story, if you feel like it: what’s a new, positive place you and your anxiety can go? How can you become friends in your comic? How does it help you? What nice things does your anxiety notice about you? If you are feeling stuck, you might try some of these “rewrite, redraw, repeat” exercises from Fionn McCabe’s Substack (Amaris is partial to “fight!”):

   Rewrite, Redraw, Repeat (2 of 3)

5. Overall, the comic is a place for play and experimentation. If you try it, let us know how it goes!

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Give us some reading recommendations! Do you have comics that you turn to in times of stress? A comforting re-read?