by Melanie Anspacher Lights, Planets, People! is a graphic novel based on the author Molly Naylor’s stage play of the same name and illustrated by Lizzy Stewart. The story follows an astronomer named Maggie Hill who suffers from bipolar disorder and is experiencing severe anxiety. Maggie reluctantly seeks counseling from a therapist as she prepares to deliver a guest lecture that is intended to inspire young women, a task she finds quite daunting. Weaving through the present and past as the conversation with her therapist unfolds, she recalls navigating a romantic relationship while pursuing her life’s work to discover exoplanets,… Read More
Sunflowers
By Chloe Horning, Librarian Sunflowers by Keezy Young is a brief, personal account of living with Bipolar I. It uses the format of a one-shot, single issue comic book to tell a story in a way which is direct, immediate and employs an eye-catching visual style. The comic begins with the provocative line “Most people think mania is fun [pg. 1].” Young’s goal throughout the narrative is to debunk this myth about living with Bipolar, and to illuminate the reality of their experience. Young’s website describes them as a self-taught artist, influenced by Golden Age illustrators, as well as… Read More
Rx
‘You wont know the shape of your unravelling until it happens’ says Rachel Lindsay’s disheveled comic avatar, sitting on her bed in a breeze-block room of the mental hospital to which she has just been committed. ‘But you probably have some idea what it looks like’ adds her previous corporate self, from the advertising office where she was in charge of marketing antidepressants. Rachel’s fall has been sudden and dramatic: from well-paid, corporate ‘suit’ to ranting unemployed maniac, shouting obscenities at authority and at her concerned parents. It is not often, nowadays, that I find myself unable to put down… Read More
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me
guest review by Kat Georgakopoulos Ellen Forney thought that her unique personality propelled her creativity in just the right way. However, when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of twenty-nine, Ellen’s perception of herself was turned upside down. Manic, manic, and even more manic, Ellen was advised by her therapist to seek the aid of medication. But Ellen perceived medication to be a direct threat to her creativity. So she fought to preserve herself while simultaneously searching for stability. Through a full year, Ellen entered phases of total energy where she took on an incredible number of… Read More
Marbles by Ellen Forney
Guest review by Leandri Hattingh, Grey House Cartoons I have always been empathetic with sufferers of ill mental health, more so than many of my medical colleagues. Diagnostic and treatment limitations aside (for the moment), I believe these conditions remain stigmatised in modern medicine and, sadly, often by practitioners of such medicine. Since my exit from clinical practice in mental health care however, I’ve become less sensitive to these matters over the years. Ellen Forney’s graphic memoir, “Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me” has sparked in me a renewed insight, understanding, and empathy for those suffering from mental health disorders. In this… Read More