• Home
  • Comic Reviews
    ▼
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comic Books
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • bandes dessinées
    • Web Comics
    • Picture Books
    • Unreviewed
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Conferences
    ▼
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        ▼
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        ▼
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • Links
    ▼
    • Medicina Grafica (our sister site)
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Online Articles
    • Comic Sites and Blogs
    • Author and Artist Sites
    • Medical Humanities
  • Publishers
  • About
    ▼
    • Who’s Behind Graphic Medicine?
    • Why “Graphic Medicine”?
    • A Short History of “Art” Comics
  • Contact
  • Shop/Support
Graphic Medicine
  • Home
  • Comic Reviews
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comic Books
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • bandes dessinées
    • Web Comics
    • Picture Books
    • Unreviewed
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Conferences
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • Links
    • Medicina Grafica (our sister site)
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Online Articles
    • Comic Sites and Blogs
    • Author and Artist Sites
    • Medical Humanities
  • Publishers
  • About
    • Who’s Behind Graphic Medicine?
    • Why “Graphic Medicine”?
    • A Short History of “Art” Comics
  • Contact
  • Shop/Support
Home / Comic Reviews / Graphic Novels / Psychiatric Tales

Psychiatric Tales

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Author: Darryl Cunningham

Format: hardcover

Pages: 160

Publish Date: February, 2011

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Catalog ID: ISBN-13: 978-1608192786

Where to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Psychiatric-Tales-Graphic-Stories-Illness/dp/1608192784

Author website: http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com

Review

guest review and response illustration by Northwestern medical student Melanie Zhang

As a student who is interested in the field of psychiatry as a career, Psychiatric Tales was an invaluable read that furthers solidifies my decision. By telling extremely real stories of people with these diseases, Daryl Cunningham was able to accomplish several tasks through this graphic novel.

First, by describing his personal experiences as a mental health nurse and very briefly explaining the causes of disease, Cunningham uses this graphic novel as an educational tool to distinguish the types of psychiatric illnesses and what it may look like to a caretaker. He then continues by delving into scenes from individual stories of some of his patients’ struggles with mental illness. The nature of the graphic novel, full of facial and body language and the discrete image of people talking through speech bubbles, brings them to life in a way that words in quotation marks never could.

Cunningham also includes a chapter on celebrities such as Judy Garland and Winston Churchill who have also struggled with psychiatric diseases. I think this serves two roles. For readers who have been fortunate enough to not have been exposed to the diseases in their life or loves ones, it piques their interest more through people that they have been exposed through pop culture. For readers who have suffered with the celebs, it helps them to see that they’re not alone, which is a common theme in many of the explored psychiatric illnesses.

Finally, there are times when the characters in the panels are talking not to each other, but rather directly at the readers. And in the last chapter, Cunningham touches on the hard topic of telling us about his own struggles with depression and anxiety. It is in these moments that this graphic novel has done what many others have failed to do: elicit an emotional response from the readers. We can’t help but empathize with the patient who finally gets the courage to leave behind the abusive relationship that contributed to her illness or with Cunningham when he used his life passion – art – as a guiding light in periods of darkness that enveloped his future. The last lines of the novel, when comic Cunningham says “Look deep into yourself for the qualities you need to survive. Your talents, hopes, dreams, and desires. Because these are the things that will save you,” not only brought chills up my spine, but also made me want to re-read this book – to vicariously experience again all of the pain and suffering and the hope that overcomes it all.

 

Psychiatric Tales

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Subscribe to our iTunes Podcast
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Subscribe to Graphic Medicine

Join our email list to keep up with the latest Graphic Medicine news!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Shop / Support Us!

Visit Our Sister Site for Spanish Readers

Visit Our Sister Site for Japanese Readers

Visit the Pathographics Project

Graphic Medicine Database

About Graphic Medicine

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. The site is maintained by an editorial team under the direction of the Graphic Medicine International Collective.

© 2007 - 2021 Graphic Medicine International Collective

WordPress Developer