‘Overwhelmed. Underwhelmed. WHELMED’ is a book illustrated by me and written entirely in quotes, curated from conversations with anonymous contributors who are sufferers of Mental Illness.
It is designed to be a resource to fill the age gap in materials available to New Zealand young adults - those who don’t find themselves able to relate to the teen-based resources on https://thelowdown.co.nz/ or the adult content on http://depression.org.nz/ (both great websites), and who find that they sit somewhere in between. It is non-preachy, and doesn’t try to tell you that if you run around the block you’re going to feel a-okay.
It is a book, created for those struggling with diseases and disorders such as Depression and Anxiety, to give them something to relate to. But it is also designed to allow anybody to step inside the mind of somebody struggling with mental illness, and hence to be something that can be shared with ease between someone suffering, and those who are close to them.
The illustrations were created with scratchboard and drypoint techniques as well as digital drawing, all of which was pieced together in Photoshop. The book features a hand-embroidered paper cover and a large, navy, clamshell case.
Book Preface:
1 - Wishes their gender and age to remain anonymous. Was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the death of a family member.
This book was written through quotes from interviews with anonymous people suffering from mental illness. These contributors appear in the order that follows;
1 - Wishes their gender and age to remain anonymous. Was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the death of a family member.
2 - Wishes their gender to remain anonymous. They are 22, and have struggled with Social Anxiety for five years,
three of which were spent undiagnosed.
3 - A female student at University, who was diagnosed with
Clinical Depression last year.
4 - A male and a recent university graduate.
4 - A male and a recent university graduate.
He is recovering from Dysthymia and Blunted Effect.
Use this book for yourself or for those around you.
Knock three times, ring the doorbell and
step inside the mind.
Poster which accompanies exhibition display of book.
