other resources
There’s lots of great books, comics, zines, podcasts, apps and more out there. This is a selection of ones that I know about and feel I can vouch for.
If you know of an organisation or a great no/low-text resource that should be included on here, please send me an email.
Organisations
Graphic Medicine From their website: ‘Graphic Medicine is a site that explores the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare. We are a community of academics, health carers, authors, artists, and fans of comics and medicine.’
A great place to look for information and resources around comics and mental health (and other healthcare topics). They have an annual conference, their own podcast and review books. The majority of the work on their site is from a medical humanities background, with people discussing their lived experiences of healthcare.
https://www.graphicmedicine.org
The Sad Ghost Club A small creative project looking at raising positive awareness around mental health. They create zines around self-care and have some great merchandising.
https://www.thesadghostclub.com
Comics Youth An organisation based in Liverpool working with young people across Merseyside, many of which are marginalised and disadvantaged, helping them find a voice and express themselves through comics and zines workshops. They are also currently collaborating with The University of Liverpool looking at the intersection of comics and mental health.
Comics about mental health
This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the best ones I’ve come across. Graphic Medicine is a great place to look for more books, webcomics etc.
These are narrative in nature, mostly autobiographical books about the lived experience of mental health problems.
The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon. A fictional novel where the protagonist has OCD. The art is beautiful and wonderfully captures some of the intrusive images that often distress people with OCD.
https://www.selfmadehero.com/books/the-nao-of-brown
Back, Crack, Sack (And Brain) by Robert Wells. This describes the author’s difficulties living with panic, agoraphobia and medically unexplained symptoms. I really interesting read for anyone who works with long term health conditions.
https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781472136756
The Bad Doctor by Ian Williams. A great book about a GP with OCD.
http://myriadeditions.com/books/the-bad-doctor/
Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green. ’A graphic memoir of eating disorders, abuse and recovery’. Astounding use of images to describe how she was feeling and what she was thinking. Check out the preview on her website.
https://lighterthanmyshadow.com
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney. A great book about the author coming to terms with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There is some great visual explanations of mood disorders and it’s a great piece of psychoeducation.
https://marblesbyellenforney.com
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life by Ellen Forney. A companion piece to Marbles, this is a self-help book for bipolar disorder. There’s a little more text and less images than Marbles, and it is an excellent self-help resource for anyone who wants to learn more about how to manage bipolar disorder.
Trauma Is Really Strange by Steve Haines and Sophie Standing. A great book with some really useful information about trauma, and some great illustrations.
http://bodycollege.net/trauma/
Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines and Sophie Standing. A great book with some really useful information about anxiety, and some great illustrations.
http://bodycollege.net/anxiety/
Pain Is Really Strange by Steve Haines and Sophie Standing. A great book with some really useful information aboutpain, and some great illustrations.
PTSD Hero Comics is a very interesting looking project aiming to use comics in the treatment of military veterans with PTSD. They’re using comics with a narrative plot that provides psychoeducation about trauma and socialises them to treatment. I really like what they’re trying to do.
https://www.ptsdherocomics.com
Hyperbole And A Half by Allie Brosh. This webcomic (and printed book) has some of the best depictions of what it is like to have depression that I have ever come across. The artwork is all done in MS pain and is generally terrible, but once you read it for a while you really don’t care, it works brilliantly. Allie Brosh’s writing about depression is only a small part of what she does and her comics are hilarious.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2013-10-02T14:53:00-06:00&max-results=10
Gemma Correll is another webcomic artist whose work you probably recognise, and she has done some great comics about anxiety and depression. Some of them really capture the thinking styles associated with anxiety and depression.
https://www.gemmacorrell.com/collections/illustration/products/imposter
https://www.gemmacorrell.com/collections/comics/products/real-life-horror-movies
https://www.boredpanda.com/depression-comics-illustrations-gemma-correll/
One of my favourites. Perfectly captures the “mental filter” unhelpful thinking style in 3 panels:
http://deathbulge.com/comics/155
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Audio resources
Podcasts:
Sleep Hygiene: This is a great podcast that discusses lots of the basics of sleep hygiene and is a really interesting conversation about sleep: https://www.myownworstenemy.org/podcast/insomnia-art-and-science-of-sleep/
OCD: This podcast is a great bit of psychoeducation about OCD: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/news-blog/post/a-new-way-of-thinking-about-ocd
Panic: This podcast has some great advice about Graded Exposure. I have not had a chance to listen to other ones in the series, but I expect they would also be pretty good. I think they also have videos on YouTube.
http://www.thatanxietyguy.com/anxiety-101-episode-13-exposure-therapy-basics-expectations/
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Mood juice has some very good audio files/podcasts. This is the link to the files on their website but you can also find their podcasts on the Apple Podcast app and elsewhere: http://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk/asppodcast.asp
The Mental Health Foundation also have podcasts that can be helpful: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/podcasts-and-videos
You could also try the Everybody Blurts podcasts: https://www.blurtitout.org/blurt-podcast/
YouTube
Getselfhelp have their own YouTube channel with some good videos on a range of topics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtwIm-rV72tRf7krRasrb5A
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Problem Solving: This video is a great roleplay of Structured Problem Solving: https://youtu.be/iCoPbbLQ5m4
BA: This podcast explains the principles of BA. It doesn't use Routine, Necessary and Pleasurable activities, but otherwise is pretty good. https://youtu.be/HBVACtJCN3M Not r/n/p
Graded exposure: This is a great overview of graded exposure. The video discusses exposure exercises as being 20-30 minutes long, which does not fit with training I've had but it's still really good. https://youtu.be/HHfUdOM8QIQ
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Also check out That Anxiety Guy on YouTube.
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Apps
The Breathe app by Reach Out (who are linked with the great Australian resource site CCI) is really nice and simple to follow. It basically uses the same principle as “square breathing”. And it’s free.
https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/reachout-breathe
Or there’s a similar one from Calm: http://www.calm.com/
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Worry Time, another free app by Reach Out, allows users to set a worry period that they will be reminded of later and then during the day they can add worries to come back to in their worry period. It doesn't allow users to sort worries into practical or hypothetical and it prompts users to problem-solve worries in their worry time, but it can be a great tool if someone doesn't want to get out a pen and paper every time they notice themselves worrying. https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/reachout-worrytime
And this game designed to help with anxiety sounds really interesting: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/flowy