Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness

As someone suffering from long term depression the final chapter of this book was extremely emotional for me to read. The author has put into words & images the difficulty of living with anxiety & depression in a way that doesn't belittle it or say 'I got better so you can too'. He recognises the many dimensions of depression & offers hope not a definitive answer.

The rest of the book is an amazing & educational insight into the world of all mental illnesses in an attempt to highlight awareness & end stigma. This is something everyone needs to read & would be an excellent teaching aid for future generations.

This is a short read in terms of time but deserves as much time as you can give it. In 11 chapters, Cunningham illustrates his experiences working as a nursing assistant in the field of mental health, as well as his personal history with mental health. The black and white drawings pull you in to show you the faces behind people with mental health issues: bipolar disorders, depression, self-harm, dementia and suicide are all discussed in these pages. Having relatives with dementia, I found that a difficult chapter to get through, but Cunningham is sensitive and compassionate toward his subjects. This is worth reading if you can get your hands on a copy.

A graphic novel that seeks to beat down some of the myths around mental illness, drawing from the author's personal experiences working in a psychiatric ward.

While the style of art wasn't to my tastes, I greatly appreciate the effort that the author put into this. At the very start he explains that this is a "stigma-busting book" and that such a thing "is needed because fear and ignorance of mental illness remain widespread in society." I couldn't agree more, which is what drew to this book when I saw it at my local library. His description of the mental illnesses that he discusses is accessible and gives an honest view into the lives of those who suffer. The reason I rated it at the base/ average rating of 3 is because there was show more nothing truly captivating about the story or the art. Psychology is a big part of my life and what I have my degree in, otherwise I probably wouldn't have continued reading past the first few pages.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone for the very purpose that this book was written, though keep in mind it won't be for the purpose of entertainment. show less

Loved this graphic novel! The author does a great job of creating characters that readers can empathize with, while at the same time providing information about mental illnesses in a way that helps reduce the horrible stigma attached. I would highly recommend this book to those who suffer from a mental illness, those who care for people with mental illnesses, and everyone else who needs to know what it's like to have one, and why we should care.

I first read a couple of these stories online a few years ago and found them compelling, so I grabbed this off the library bookshelf. It's a quick read, but moving; Cunningham's stories ring true, even if his admonitions about the stigma against mental illness are textbook cliches.

This an interesting look at mental illness from someone who used to work in the area and struggled with their own issues. Its a mix of memoir and a look at the effects of different issues, told in a snapshots and illustrated with endearing black and white artwork. If you are familiar with the illnesses and the industry there may not be much to learn here but it's well told and to everyone else fascinating.

Cunningham, a cartoonist who worked on a Bristish psychiatric ward, tells 11 "graphic stories" (i.e., stories in visual format) of psychiatric disorders. These are not 11 tales of people (though some include anonymized people and one describes the author's own experiences with anxiety. For the most part they're descriptions of mental health problems made more compelling with human examples. There's an over-representation of self-injury, and I don't agree with all of his assertions, but with those caveats, this could be a useful adjunct to an introductory abnormal psychology course.