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For Real, Issue One: The Oven

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Review of For Real (Issue One): The Oven by James Romberger By Kevin Wolf Though I grew up reading comic books, I rarely read stand-alone comics today. I usually wait for a graphic novel to come out, which might be a multi-comic story arc. Comics are often sold as twenty or so page “pamphlets,” often with regular frequency. Some single stories in a single comic have achieved acclaim (e.g. The 8-page story Master Race by Al Feldstein writer and B. Krigstein artist in Impact issue 1, March 1955 EC Publications; about a holocaust survivor encountering a Nazi war criminal on… Read More

This Week in Graphic Medicine (10/12/18)

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Hello all! I am stepping in while Matthew is away. He will be back next week.For those of you who don’t know me, you can find out more in my introduction. As I’m new to this, let me know if I’ve missed something. —Alice Jaggers ‘This Week in Graphic Medicine’ highlights relevant articles (and tweets) about comics in medicine published during the week (Saturday – Friday). Links are typically presented without commentary, unless clarification of relevance is necessary, with credit given to those who flagged them up where possible. So without further ado…   Alice’s Pick of the Week…  … Read More

Rx

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‘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

Call for Contributors for “Missing Panels”

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Call for Contributors for “Missing Panels” Zine funded by the University of Leicester – Wellcome Trust ISSF. “Missing Panels” focuses on the impact a lack of representation has on the lives and mental health of members of BME communities, illustrating the need for more equal representation as one of the many strategies required to build a more equal society. Specifically, we are looking for contributors to create a 2 or 4-page full colour comic revolving around questions such as: i) is NHS outreach/campaign material inclusive to BME communities? ii) in what way has your personal experience of accessing health care… Read More

Psychiatric Tales

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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… Read More

Viewotron Issue Two

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A Powerful Portrait of Psychosis guest review by Eric J. Keller, MD/MA candidate, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Viewotron offers a powerful image of not only a devastating mental illness but the toll that such an illness can have on those who care for them. Sam Sharpie’s graphic novel would be a valuable asset to any family member seeking to better understand his/her relationship with a loved one struggling with a psychotic disorder. Whether as an educational experience or safe place to commiserate though a shared experience, I think this short piece is well worth the read. I would… Read More

Marbles by Ellen Forney

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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

“Every Time I Turn Around I’m Mentally Ill” Voices from Locked Psychiatric Wards

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Russell Leander is an art therapist, a psychotherapist, an educator, and artist in Chicago. He has spent ten years working on locked psychiatric wards. He says of this project: The illustrations came into being while I was painting in open art groups with the patients.  Frequently, during those groups, someone would say something that would strike me as something to remember,so I would write it down on a scrap of paper and stick it in my pocket.  Every now and then, I’d spread the paintings and scraps of paper on my office floor and see which might belong together.  That’s really it.  Many times, I found,… Read More

Better, Drawn

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Geographer and cartoonist Simon Moreton (Smoo Comics) created Better, Drawn. Moreton says of his site, “Better, drawn is a place for people to share stories about long-term mental and physical illnesses, told in the form of short comics. The site is a way for people to write and draw about their experiences that might otherwise be difficult to talk about openly. In fact, we think that sometimes things can be said better when they’re drawn. Submissions are open to anyone with a story to tell about coping with illness.” You can also listen to Simon discuss community and comics in this podcast.