Bibliotherapy: the power books have to heal you

"Bibliotherapy – the prescription of books as a remedy to ills – has been around since 2013, when the Reading Agency charity published a list of books that GPs could offer to patients, tackling topics from depression to dementia to chronic pain. Since then, 1.2 million readers have borrowed the scheme's books from libraries. 

It's so successful that it's about to be extended to children as well. Winifred Robinson discusses how it works with Professor Philip Davis who studies the effects of literature at Liverpool University. He's the author of a book called Reading for Life, having researched its effects on dementia, depression and worked with reading groups in prisons and homeless shelters."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p083x2r1

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My memory of the film version of this epistolary novel, is, as per usual when it comes to remembering films, near to non-existent. I certainly don't recall it having such an emotional impact on me as the book has. 

Written in the first-person, Charlie who is in his first year of high school, leads the reader through some difficult times in his life. His simple style of narration is easy to follow and heartfelt, making it hard not to become attached to his endearing personality. Charlie navigates us through his ups and downs with friendships and relationships with his peers, teachers and family.

Despite not experiencing many of the situations that Charlie shares, his experiments with drugs and smoking are one example, I was able to relate to a lot of his thoughts and observations. 

It was at the end of the book, in the afterword, that I came to properly realise the extent to which the book has a power to help the reader. This has made me really reflect on how I want my own writing to have an impact in the world. 

Book challenge - day 5

I have accepted a challenge to post seven books that I love, one book a day, no exceptions, no reviews, just covers. Let’s promote literacy and a book list. 📚 💕

Day 5

Happy Place podcast by Fearne Cotton - Matt Haig

Since listening to series 6, episode 7 of Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast in which she speaks with Fearne Cotton, I began listening to Happy Place, Fearne Cotton's podcast in which she chats "to inspiring individuals who have either made a change in their own lives or who help people every day to find a different way of looking at life."

The people, (mainly celebrities) she interviews range from comedian Dawn French, to five element Acupuncture Master Gerad Kite to classical musician Ludovico Einaudi and heptathlon Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill.

I have taken lots from listening to these podcasts, and despite the fact that I lead a completely different life to the people she interviews, the way Fearne talks with her guests makes it easy for them to be genuine and tap into their emotions which then make it easier for me (and other listeners) to relate to and feel a connection with. Fearne's ability to create a true rapport with her guest, whom she may have never met, is the key to their willingness to share. This talent is one that fellow podcaster Elizabeth Day also oozes, and it is because they do so that their interviewees discuss challenging experiences openly, tap into deep emotions and are able to share their vulnerabilities.

The most recent episode that I have listened to features the writer Matt Haig, who at the age of 24 experienced a panic attack that changed his life. He has since written the bestselling book, Reasons To Stay Alive, and discusses with Fearne how writing and talking about his experiences has helped him.

He discusses how he often feels like a fraud because he still experiences anxiety. When readers contact him to say how helpful his book has been to them, he feels he should be able to have used it to 'cure' him of his anxieties. 

The way he deals with this is to be accepting of himself.

He notes how we often talk about battling fighting and struggling with our mental health, but recognises that it is more useful if we talk about accepting and understanding our mental health.

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day - Fearne Cotton

After going to 'How To Fail Live With Elizabeth Day' at The Sage a few weeks ago I subscribed to 'How To Fail With Elizabeth Day', the podcast that celebrates the things that haven’t gone right. Every week, a new interviewee explores what their failures taught them about how to succeed better.

Guests have included the chef and cookery writer Nigel Slater, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator and star of Fleabag and writer of Killing Eve as well as the politician Jess Phillips.

I recently listened to the episode in which Elizabeth Day interviews Fearne Cotton. Fearne began her extensive broadcasting career as a TV presenter at the age of 15, and has since established herself as a radio presenter, a designer, a writer (of 2 cookbooks, 'Cook Happy, Cook Health' & 'Cook. Eat. Love' as well as 'Happy', in which she writes about her own experiences of happiness & unhappiness), and a social media talent who has her own podcast called 'Happy Place', after which the Happy Place festival was born. She has spoken openly about mental health, specifically her own experiences with panic attacks and anxiety.

The 3 failures that Fearne chose to talk about are

1. failing most of her GCSE's

2. a failed engagement

3. failure to be herself in her 20s

It was when she was discussing her third failure that Fearne broached a subject that she had previously avoided talking about publically, namely her previous experience of living with an eating disorder. I found her honesty deeply moving and feel a real connection to what she shared.

mindFULLyes!

Art on prescription on Front Row

Last Thursday's episode of Front Row on BBC Radio 4 included a feature about Art on prescription. 'Earlier this month Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that "arts on prescription" is an indispensable tool in tackling loneliness, mental health and other long-term conditions. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001bqn

The programme features Wellcome Research Fellow Daisy Fancourt, Gavin Clayton, head of the Arts and Minds charity and GP Dr Simon Opher, and they discuss arts and healthcare.



It is based on the thought that changing people's environment can have a positive effect on mental wellbeing. Although ideas like this have been around for some time now, it is believed that about 20% of GP's are now making use of "arts on prescription." Sometimes artists are based in the doctors surgery and the GPs refer the patient directly to the artist, and other times the patient is directed to an organisation such as Arts and Minds that are based in museums and run workshops for groups that involve making art inspired by the heritage artifacts.

Something worth noting is that the government seem to acknowledge the importance of the arts for health, but its status within the school curriculum and in libraries and museums are under threat.

"Pull Yourself Together"

nb. An appropriate instruction to be given to automatic closing curtains, 

but not to be used to support someone having a hard time!

New artists and mental health resource: Bobby Baker on making art that explores traumatic experiences

In a new a-n Resources profile to coincide with Bobby Baker’s 14–18 NOW commission ‘Great & Tiny War’ – the run for which has just been extended – Lydia Ashman talks to the artist about her experiences of the mental health system and the need to address ‘transgenerational trauma’.

Alastair Cummings and Peek Films, Still from 'Great & Tiny War' trailer, 2018.

The house is populated with multimedia artworks which represent different eras of the war. These include a display of 4,701 miniature meals, crafted from peppermint cream, and an armoury of baked weapons. Visitors, who are greeted by a host and guided around the show in small groups, are accompanied by an audio recording voiced by Bobby Baker. Following the tour, which takes 40-50 minutes, visitors can reflect on the exhibition over a cup of tea in the kitchen.

Mitchell adds: “‘Great & Tiny War’ has had an extraordinary reception, from teens to older people, from the local neighbours to those travelling to Newcastle from all over the UK. And the conversations in the kitchen, inspired by the ideas raised in the work, have been as wide ranging as the people visiting.”

Baker’s installation spotlights the frequently unsung contribution that women made during the war in the form of domestic labour and also highlights the wide-reaching and often hidden repercussions of conflict and trauma on mental health.

Speaking to Lydia Ashman in the new a-n Resources profile, Baker explains that both mental health and domestic life have been recurring themes in her work since the early 1970s, work that often subverts everyday experiences and uses humour as a tool to connect with people.

She also discusses the frustration she feels as an “older woman artist” and how, bar a very few small exceptions, she has only ever been given opportunities by women. At 67, she says she feels “more emboldened to speak out because I discover that there are many women who feel like me”.

“Having periods of bad mental health is part of the human condition and something that people can survive,” she says. “Being an artist is how I processed some terrible experiences, but I’ve emerged, the happiest I’ve ever been. Art saved my life.”

‘Great & Tiny War’ continues in Newcastle upon Tyne until 28 November 2018. wunderbar.org.uk/gtw/great-tiny-war

https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/new-artists-mental-health-resource-bobby-baker-making-art-explores-traumatic-experiences/

Front Row investigates how winter affects the mental health of creatives

Following the turning back of the clocks, Monday's edition of Front Row on BBC Radio 4 investigated the affect the darkening days has on writers, particularly those with mental health issues. 

Poet Helen Mort and novelist Matt Haig examined how the character of their work, their productivity and their routine changes during the winter months.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000xxy

VR is Helping Solve Schizophrenic Auditory Hallucinations

https://www.hcanews.com/news/vr-is-helping-solve-schizophrenic-auditory-hallucinations-Tom Castles

About 65% of patients with schizophrenia experience verbal auditory hallucinations, which are characterized by harsh voices that emanate from body-less “others.” Usually, these “others” fit a common profile – they're domineering, derogatory and unremittingly hostile, making an already-burdensome condition even more painful for those who suffer from it.

Current treatments for schizophrenia like psychosocial therapy and antipsychotic medications help to ease hallucinations in many patients, but for roughly a quarter of people with psychotic conditions, available treatments just aren’t enough. What’s worse, many antipsychotic medications can lead over time to serious side effects like Parkinson disease and tardive dyskinesia, 2 debilitating movement disorders.

But a new therapy moving through the clinical trial pipeline could provide hope for patients who aren’t getting the results they need from conventional therapies, and so far, it hasn’t shown any adverse safety events. It’s called AVATAR therapy, an aptly-named acronym that stands for Audio Visual Assisted Therapy Aid for Refractory auditory hallucinations.

AVATAR therapy first garnered attention when it was pilot tested as a treatment for patients with auditory hallucinations between 2009 and 2011 by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research. The hypothesis driving the therapy is novel, but based on an old cliché: face your fears. Study authors hypothesized that if patients could confront the voice in their heads by virtually personifying it through a software program and challenging their punitive and domineering tendencies, the patient could either overcome the voice, learn to live with it, or eliminate it entirely.

In AVATAR therapy, patients build a customizable visual representation of the voice in their heads, known as the “persecutor.” The avatar has an appearance and tone of speech that closely matches the pitch and tone of the hallucinated persecutory voice. Suddenly, the hallucination enters the realm of reality.

Patients are then encouraged to engage in a dialogue with the avatar, who is remotely controlled by a therapist. Rather than propagating a relationship where the persecutory voice dominates a submissive patient, the therapist controls the avatar so that slowly, over time, it yields control to the patient.

Results of the pilot study were encouraging. Patients who underwent the novel AVATAR therapy showed mean reductions in total Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSYRATS) auditory hallucinations of 8.75 (P = .003), and in the Omnipotence and Malevolence subscales of the Revised Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire (BAVQ-R) of 5.88 (P = .004). On the other hand, the control group experienced no changes during the study period.

Researchers behind a recent follow up study published in The Lancet set out to recreate those results in a larger, powered, randomized controlled trial, and again found that patients experienced favorable outcomes, with 83% meeting the primary end point – a reduction in auditory verbal hallucinations at 12 weeks.

The study’s lead author Tom K J Craig, PhD, FRCP, emeritus professor of social psychiatry at King’s College London (pictured), was surprised by the study’s positive results. But he said the evidence was compelling, and that he was most impressed by the number of patients who clearly improved with therapy.

“Most dramatic were the people for whom voices stopped entirely. Although Julian Leff had found this in his first pilot work, we did not really expect to see it repeated in our larger [powered, randomized] controlled study,” Craig told MD Magazine, a sister publication of Healthcare Analytics News™. “While that was the most striking outcome, the wider reductions in frequency and severity of voices reported by many people was also striking.”

In the follow up study, Craig and colleagues described the significance behind the transition of power from persecutor to patient.

“The operation of power within this relationship is viewed as crucial…the voice-hearer assum[es] a submissive role characterized by feelings of inferiority and powerlessness that can reflect social relationships more generally,” researchers wrote. “The therapist (switching between speaking as therapist and as avatar) facilitates a dialogue in which the voice-hearer gradually gains increased power and control within the relationship, with the initially omnipotent voice loosening its grip over the hearer by becoming more conciliatory over time."

The results are especially encouraging because the trial involved a sample of people suffering from persistent psychoses who reported unremitting and distressing auditory hallucinations for at least the previous year, despite regular supervision and continuing pharmacological treatment. Moreover, more than a third of all patients across both therapy groups had a clinical record of treatment resistance and were prescribed clozapine before the start of the study.

In the follow-up study, the reduction in PSYRATS total score at 12 weeks was significantly greater for AVATAR therapy than for supportive counseling, with a mean difference of -3.82 [SE 1.47], 95% CI -6.70 to -0.94; (P<.0093). Moreover, there were no apparent adverse events attributable to the therapy.

According to the authors, the study “corroborated the primary hypothesis concerning clinical efficacy by showing a rapid and sustained reduction in the severity of auditory verbal hallucinations by end of therapy at week 12 that was significantly superior to that achieved by supportive counseling…Our second and third hypotheses were also largely supported, in that AVATAR therapy had a positive and significant [effect] on omnipotence, and that these positive effects on voices were sustained at 24 weeks. However, it had no significant effect on the reported malevolence of voices.”

The authors acknowledged limitations, including the absence of a treatment-as-usual control condition. They also noted that the results could reflect regression to the mean in both groups, but considered that unlikely because participants were selected for persistent symptoms and were not recruited in crisis.

“The participants were all people who had suffered for many years with troubling auditory hallucinations and all had diagnoses of major psychoses (schizophrenia spectrum disorders mainly, but also psychotic depression). The auditory hallucinations were just one symptom among the several that make up these diagnoses. All were taking medication,” Craig said. “So using that to put AVATAR into perspective, I would say we have a promising add on treatment.”

Craig emphasized that the study did not provide any evidence that AVATAR therapy could replace medication or be provided instead of a wider cognitive behavioral treatment for psychosis, although there is potential for it to form part of a longer therapy of that type in the future.

Follow-up research is required before AVATAR therapy could be instituted widely across clinics, he added. Craig first recommended a future multi-center replication to test whether the therapy is effective across different service settings and cultures, and secondly, further work to unpack the active ingredients to strengthen the size and duration of positive outcomes.

“I think the next step is probably the multicenter study. There is considerable national and international interest, so I am hopeful we will have more definitive results within the next 5 years. Once we have this, it should be possible to see AVATAR therapy as a recommended treatment in clinical guidelines with wide availability,” Craig said.

Documentation of performance at THEMSELVES HERE TOGETHER preview

As part of my exhibition, THEMSELVES HERE TOGETHER, at The Word in South Shields, I collaborated with Sarah Grundy on a performance.

This video documents the durational performance.



https://youtu.be/bcwua_Qvzkk

My Mind and Me on Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 have a programme called My Mind and Me which covers topics relating to mental health. 

Episodes include:

Dealing with depression

Tips to beat stress

What is mental health?

Dealing with abuse

The latest set of episodes is all about hearing voices. Over 10 episodes the story of Alice is told.

"Imagine hearing voices in your head. Alice does. She’s a 27-year-old mum who’s had different characters in her mind since she was about 15. They all have names and personalities and they can be hard to ignore. Alice wants to tell you about them so you can understand what it's like to live with schizophrenia."

- Donna - Join Alice as she invites you to meet the very first voice she ever heard, Donna. Welcome to her inner world.

- Rose and Rachel - Join Alice as she gets her revenge on a couple of voices in her head. They're a tricky pair, Rose and Rachel, but Alice has worked out how she can get her own back.

- Michael - This is a love story between Alice and someone very special to her. You'll find out what happened when the voice she loved the most in the world turned into one of her most frightening.

- Mum and Dad - As if things weren't confusing enough for Alice, she started hearing her mum and dad's voices in her head. But, they weren't exactly like her parents in real life.

- Celebrity voices - Alice's voices are often frightening, but in this episode she reveals how she hears celebrity voices which lighten the mood. She even has a bit of a crush on one of them.

- Tony - Leaving the house can be hard sometimes for Alice because that's when she'll hear muffled voices from crowds in the street or supermarket. It's confusing and makes her feel paranoid, but she's learnt over the years how to cope with it.

- Ricky - Alice talks about how sometimes when she's feeling low, she self-harms. But there's a voice which can lift her mood and sometimes she pines to hear from Ricky.

- Joshua - Alice's positivity oozes through this episode. She's in a good place in her life right now and she talks about the voice which reflects this and that's Joshua. She also reveals her plans for the future, which include maths... and bras. Prepare to be inspired.

- Stigma - We're nearing the end of Alice's story and she wants to deal with some of the stigma surrounding schizophrenia. Some people assume those with the illness are deluded all the time and that they never have any sense of reality. In this episode Alice explains why that's actually far from the truth.

- Last voice - Over the years Alice has experienced positive and negative voices, in this final episode she reveals whether she'd get rid of them if she could. It's a difficult question and her answer might surprise you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05q82d8

Charles Bonnet Syndrome

I recently became aware of Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS), and was surprised to find out how common it is. Despite this, the CBS and the effects of the condition seem to have little coverage, hence the importance of talking about it. Here is some information about the condition from the RNBI.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health/your-guide-charles-bonnet-syndrome-cbs/charles-bonnet-syndrome

Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a common condition among people who have lost their sight. It causes people who have lost a lot of vision to see things that aren’t really there, known as visual hallucinations.

People who have CBS may have lost a lot of their vision from an eye condition, such as age-related macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma or diabetic eye disease.

It’s thought that there are more than 100,000 cases of CBS in the UK. Some research suggests that up to 60 per cent of people who are experiencing serious sight loss may develop it.

The main cause of CBS is loss of vision and how your brain reacts to this loss. Current research seems to suggest that when you are seeing real things around you, the information received from your eyes actually stops the brain from creating its own pictures. When you lose your sight, however, your brain is not receiving as much information from your eyes as it used to. Your brain can sometimes fill in these gaps by releasing new fantasy pictures, patterns or old pictures that it has stored. When this occurs, you experience these images stored in your brain as hallucinations.

There are some medical problems, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, serious mental illness and other brain conditions, which affect the part of the brain concerned with seeing and these conditions may cause some people to have hallucinations.

Certain things about CBS hallucinations make them different to the hallucinations caused by other conditions. Usually, with CBS you’re aware – or can learn to recognise – that what you’re seeing isn’t real, although it may appear vivid. CBS hallucinations only affect your sight, which means that you don’t hear, smell or feel things that aren’t there. People with CBS do not develop any obvious, complicated non- medical explanation about the cause of their hallucinations (sometimes called “delusions”). For example, someone with CBS wouldn’t have thoughts that the people they were seeing wanted to hurt them.

The visual hallucinations caused by CBS can vary and can range from simple shapes and dots of colours, simple patterns, straight lines or a network of branches, to detailed pictures of people, animals, insects, landscapes and buildings. When you have lost a large amount of your vision it may be difficult to see everyday things, but you may find that your CBS hallucinations are very detailed, and much clearer than your normal vision. The images can appear “out of the blue”, lasting for just a few minutes or in some cases, several hours.

At times, the hallucinations may fit alongside the background you are looking at, making them feel quite real, like seeing cows in a field when the field is actually empty or seeing a fence across the pavement. At other times, they will seem totally unreal, like seeing fantasy images such as dragons.

The kinds of things people see with CBS hallucinations seem to fall into two broad types:

• simple repeated patterns
• complex hallucinations of people, objects and landscapes.

Both kinds of hallucination can vary. Sometimes they may be in black and white and at other times in colour, or they may move or stay still. It’s possible you may have one type of hallucination more than another or have both types of hallucination at the same time or one after another.

https://youtu.be/Rerzmm41g_Y

Simple repeating pattern hallucinations

Many people with CBS experience hallucinations of repeating patterns. These may be grids or shapes or lines, which can be quite vivid in colour, like bright green dots surrounded by vibrant pink squares. You may also see complicated brickwork or mosaic patterns that grow in size to cover more and more of your vision. People can also see patterns that look like a network of branches or roots from a tree, growing over everything they see.

People usually describe this type of hallucination as being laid on top of everything they see, or growing across any surface they look at. Sometimes people also experience patterns of distorted faces, which appear in their vision and can change shape or move towards them.

Complex hallucinations

The second type of hallucination people can experience are more complicated and include hallucinations of people, places, insects and animals.You may experience hallucinations where whole scenes appear, such as landscapes with waterfalls, mountains or a garden full of flowers. At other times you may see individuals or groups of people. You may see people dressed in costume, like Edwardian families, Roman soldiers or small children in bonnets. The figures of people in your hallucinations may be life size, larger than life sized or very commonly very small. All these types of figures may move or remain still.

At times, the hallucinations may fit with the room that you are in when you experience them, so that you may see animals in your bed or people working in your garden. At other times the hallucinations can appear very odd, such as double-decker buses in your kitchen or hallway.

Dealing with hallucinations of space

You may find you have hallucinations that change the shape of streets and rooms. For instance, your hallucinations might suddenly make it look like there is a wall or fence in front of you and you may have to check if this is real. This can make you lose confidence walking around and it may take you longer to get out and about.

If you experience hallucinations like this, it’s important that you are not afraid to check the area around you. It may be sensible to go slowly, to reach out and feel around for what is real and what is not.

Dealing with hallucinations of people

Hallucinations of people can be frightening, particularly if they’re inside your home. If the images are of very small people or people in costumes then it may be easier to realise that they are hallucinations than if the figure is in ordinary clothes. Having a good idea of when you’re likely to have visitors may make you more confident if you have this type of hallucination and will help in you feeling secure in your home or your surroundings.

Dealing with hallucinations of animals

Hallucinations of animals are also very common. Often people describe animals on their chairs or in their bed. Sometimes this can be very upsetting, especially if you aren’t keen on a particular type of animal.

Using touch to make sure that the animals are hallucinations is not a bad thing and sometimes reaching out towards the hallucination may cause them to stop and disappear.

Bethlem Museum of the Mind

On my recent trip to London for my event at Turf Projects in Croydon, I paid a visit to the Bethlem Museum of the Mind.



Bethlem Museum of the Mind is situated within the Bethlem Royal Hospital grounds, in a stunning Art Deco building shared with the Bethlem Gallery. The museum cares for an internationally renowned collection of archives, art and historic objects, which together offer an unparalleled resource to support the history of mental healthcare and treatment. It was formally opened by artist Grayson Perry in March 2015.

Bethlem Royal Hospital was founded in 1247 and was the first institution in the UK to specialise in the care of the mentally ill. The hospital continues to provide in-patient care as part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and has been based in south London since 1930.



I was specifically interested in research pertaining to my current investigations into auditory hallucinations, but found the museum to be interesting on many levels.




http://museumofthemind.org.uk/

An invitation to voice-hearers, researchers and clinicians

I am embarking on a new body of work investigating auditory hallucinations. This stems from an increasing awareness of the different types of voices I experience; inner speech, helpful inner voices, plus the destructive and commanding kind that challenge me on a daily basis.

Through engagement with other voice hearers, academics, researchers, psychologists and clinicians, and by working with Mental Health organisations including Launchpad and MOSS, I seek to investigate the experience of hearing voices (in the broadest sense). My research will take a number of formats including individual interviews, group discussions and creative writing workshops. 

I have a number of confirmed outputs, including a reading group, an evening of spoken word performances and an exhibition. I will conceive, create and curate a high- quality immersive audio-visual panoramic installation that represents the typical, atypical, constructive & destructive experience of hearing voices. It is hoped that this will raise awareness, encourage dialogue & promote a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. After the exhibition I aim to produce a publication which will extend the body of work and be a legacy for the project. More information about these will be shared in due course.  

If you have any experience of voice hearing (directly or indirectly), would like to be involved,  or request further information, please contact me by email.

No Niceties contributing artist - Sofija Sutton

Brooklyn-based artist Sofija Sutton contributed Sweet, Hold the Bitter to the No Niceties exhibition.

She states, "My current art practice explores the use of flash fiction and folklore in video, painting, collage, and multidiscipline installations. I use narratives and visuals to tell layered metaphors for daily, intimate life. The most common themes I address are belonging and mental health. I particularly enjoy using anamorphism with invertebrate references in magical realism to juxtapose the absurd with the mundane.

Each project’s message dictates the materials of my work. Some meanings require text, while others may be communicated with paint alone. Some works benefit from collaboration and some works require learning new technologies. Allowing the meaning of the work to direct the form it takes allows me to be open to new experiences while maintaining the importance of the story’s message."



Sutton shares some of her initial thoughts that led to the end result:

how i wanted one story to go
- how I want the word playful to be associated in my head. not playful but investigative and introspective and innately human. yes.

(I related too closely)
how it went.

I just wanted one sweet hold the bitter end so I could think you have some sweet hold the bitter moments. but thats not really how feelings are felt in hindsight.

in fifteen minutes my tea can go cold.

-flying pill bug baby, roll and pop!
- you settle into your train seat.
- your friends talk a lot about babies and weddings
- you live a different life than them

ticking clock with an empty desk and chair. plain.
toxic colors, acidic or washed out, jarring. initial impression of joy masking the anxiety and compulsion.



For more information about Sofija's practice, please visit

She has also just launched her new illustration website showcasing watercolor and collage illustrations. Check it out!

http://www.fiasutton.com/

Me Too Project

Mental health problems are often treated as a taboo and brushed under the carpet, despite the fact that an estimated 1 in 4 people will experience mental health issues each year. The Me Too project was set up to see a cross-section of the people affected by these issues and hear their stories. 

The Me Too Project is a creative collaboration which seeks to encourage discussion about mental health. The aim is that by doing this, the stigma surrounding mental health issues can be tackled and some of the many who are affected by them can be helped. The Me Too project has brought together portraits of people who have experienced depression, anxiety and OCD and sought to tell their stories.

The Project is the brainchild of Zofia Sagan and Fran Cresswell who met at a personal development group and immediately bonded over their drives for social good and our own personal experiences of mental illness. Their aim is to promote healthy conversation on the topic and bring hope and courage to those who maybe suffering in silence.

My text, Session 1 is featured on the Me Too Project website.

Read it here:
me too project - session 1