A few years ago I was diagnosed with, Bipolar Disorder and also it was found out I also have something called Derealisation and Depersonalisation since then I’ve been on Medication and in and out of NHS care.
Mental Health is something which is sort of looked down on in society, ok the facts are 1 in 3 of us will suffer some kind of mental health issue. From when I said Bipolar a few of you might have thought, “Crazy Mood Swings,” Unless you have the condition chances are you aren’t going to know exactly what it is. Websites and reading up on these things will only get you so far. Same with Dissociative Disorder, most of you probably don’t even know what that is, it means that some times I dissociate myself from myself and the world- I don’t believe this world is real at times.
2012 I started doing some drawings, because at the time I was struggling with my health. Those taking medication with mental health issues can sometimes know, sometimes you feel better when you aren’t taking the meds. The doctor has explained to me the reason bipolar patients stop taking their tablets is because, Bipolar people prefer the “High” (Mania).
Recently, because my 3 years with the NHS Doncaster Early Intervention team is up and seeing the good things a mental health support group on Facebook have done and also a bit of encouragement from the BBC’s documentary, “Don’t call me Crazy,” I decided to using digital art to look at other mental health conditions, and at least give some image which those with the condition can relate too.
All new images will be uploaded to this page- https://nightmarecat.wordpress.com/current-projects/mental-health/ Plus the older ones are on that page too.
But for now here is the first 3 official pictures I have created for this project
Anxiety-
I’ve known people who think people who feel anxiety are weak, that they need to pull themselves together… But in cases telling someone who is feeling like something dangerous is going to happen thinking they are weak isn’t the best thing.
Phobias, Panic Attacks and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all come under Anxiety Disorders, they can come in mild- severe. And also there have been a number of cases of those thinking they are having an asthma attack when actually it’s a panic attack.
You have to think, in some cases people feel uneasy for a reason, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder people often feel anxiety because they are having flashbacks. Consider having something horrible happening over and over again in your mind, by the end of that you can feel like the whole world is out for you.
Psychosis-
Patients with psychosis will often suffer from Hallucinations- seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. E.G such as hearing voices in their head or seeing figures in the room.
And/Or Delusions- believing something that is obviously untrue is true. E.G They have superpowers.
Some patients will often not know that the voices or figures aren’t real, others might. In both cases though the voices and images can be terrifying. Imagine being in an empty room where you have a voice talking, shouting in your head, possibly about you. Reality soon becomes hard to distinguish.
Schizophrenia is a condition where an individual will have repeated episodes of psychosis. If someone occasionally experiences psychosis it is not to say they have Schizophrenia, other conditions such as Bipolar Disorder also cause psychosis. It is best to see a Doctor/Psychiatrist if you or someone you know is believed to be having a psychotic episode.
Dissociative Disorder.
Dissociation houses a range of mental disorders, the most commonly known being Multiple Personality Disorder/ Dissociation Identity Disorder, where individuals have alternate personalities, which can be completely different to the original person- E.g a Kind, selfless person with MPD could have an alternate personality which is selfish all the time. The personality no matter what qualities it has can over power theirs, becoming the primary person for a while- Like an actor becoming a character in the media only the individual may not know they are becoming this person and obviously this isn’t for TV. These personalities can take on different styles and can even be a different age and gender to the individual with the disorder.
There are other conditions that come under Dissociation such as Depersonalisation Disorder, which mean individuals believe a piece of their personality isn’t actually them. On occasion these people can feel trapped in their own head and out of control of the actions they are doing, they feel like they are viewing their life from an outside perspective.
I will be getting around to doing more mental health related pictures as soon as I can get around to it!
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