12 Grown Up Graphic Novels to Celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness month and CBLDF is here to support your well-being with some grown-up comic art and graphic medicine.  Whether you’re looking to feel less alone, to understand another’s experience, find hope or find a good laugh, graphic storytelling is an excellent way to stay connected.

Where to get good books?

Adult Reads-on the lighter side

Amazon.com: It's Your Weirdness that Makes You Wonderful: A Self ...

It’s Your Weirdness That Makes You Wonderful: A Self-Acceptance Prompt Journal

By Kate Allen

In this interactive journal you are free to explore and express your wonderful self, getting good guidance along the way.

Just Peachy: Comics About Depression, Anxiety, Love, and Finding ...

Just Peachy

By Holly Chisholm

Cute pictures, serious subjects!  A collection of comics about living with depression and anxiety.

It's All Absolutely Fine: Life Is Complicated So I've Drawn It ...

It’s All Absolutely Fine

By Ruby Elliot

With simple art and dark wit, this collection tackles serious mental health issues with honest humor.

Super Chill: A Year of Living Anxiously: Ellis, Adam ...

Super Chill:A Year of Living Anxiously

By Adam Ellis

A collection of comic panels exploring life as an anxious man.

How to Be Perfectly Unhappy: The Oatmeal, Inman, Matthew ...

How to Be Perfectly Unhappy

By Matthew Inman

From The Oatmeal comes a cheeky look at the serious art of being happy with who you are and what you do.

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping ...

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened

By Allie Brosh

Collecting from her popular webcomic and blog, this book explores depression and other life challenges.

Adult Reads–on the serious side

Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 | Graphic Medicine

Taking Turns: Stories from Hiv/AIDS Care Unit 371

By MK Czerwiec

Autobiography and oral histories combine to honor the healthcare providers, patients, and loved ones at an HIV/AIDS crisis Care Unit in the early nineties.

Amazon.com: Ink in Water: An Illustrated Memoir (Or, How I Kicked ...

Ink in Water: An Illustrated Memoir (Or, How I Kicked Anorexia’s Ass and Embraced Body Positivity)

By Lacy J. Davis and Jim Kettner

A raw memoir of strength and courage against an eating disorder and negative body image.

Amazon.com: Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life ...

Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life

By Ellen Fornay

An illustrated handbook chock full of real advice for maintaining mental health, particularly in the realm of mood disorders.

Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir: Hart, Tom: 9781250049940 ...

Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir

Tom Hart

An honest, heart-wrenching, but ultimately healing and hopeful memoir about the loss of a child.

Stitches: A Memoir: Small, David: 9780393338966: Amazon.com: Books

Stitches: A Memoir

By David Small

Intense and dark, this memoir reveals a difficult path through childhood trauma to eventual triumph.

Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression: Wong, Teresa ...

Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression

By Teresa Wong

A personal telling of one woman’s honest and heart wrenching journey into and through PPD.


If you need help now or know someone who does:

www.mentalhealth.gov recommends the following resources:

Emergency Medical Services—911

If the situation is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911, available 24 hours a day.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or Live Online Chat

If you or someone you know is suicidal or in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trained crisis workers are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your confidential and toll-free call goes to the nearest crisis center in the Lifeline national network. These centers provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals.

SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline, 1-877-SAMHSA7 (1-877-726-4727)

Get general information on mental health and locate treatment services in your area. Speak to a live person, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

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