PHILOSOFIA

Anonymous asked: Does it bother you that a lot of the people who reblog your comics likely aren't mentally ill? It's important and helpful that so many people can relate, but sometimes it's hard for me if I say "this is how I feel, this is how my life is" and someone who hasn't experienced anything like it goes "Oh me too, I totally get depressed/mood swings/impulsive"

rubyetc:

Not at all. I dislike the idea of artwork made only to be seen/enjoyed by an exclusive audience. And although I can appreciate what you’re saying and the frustration it causes, I see it in a completely different light for a few reasons. 

First off none of us have the right or the authority to determine what another person may or may not be going through, particularly online. Secondly, in my onion there is not a clear line between ‘wellness’ and ‘illness’. Certain feelings and experiences of someone who may suffer from a mental illness will overlap with those who don’t. No one needs mental illness as a ‘qualifier’ in order to struggle with difficult feelings and intense emotions and many of the things I draw about are on the spectrum of a normal human experience, albeit sometimes focused through my own particular lens as someone who does have severe mh issues. 

It’s a bit unfortunate that a lot of clinical terms for psychiatric symptoms are the same ones we use to describe non-clinical states of mind. Because obviously there is a difference between someone feeling depressed one afternoon, and someone suffering from a depressive disorder; between feeling a bit hyper and ‘manic’ and experiencing a manic episode. Are both kinds valid? Absolutely. I really hate the ‘hierarchy of suffering’ thing I think it’s massively invalidating. People suffer differently, we don’t need to compare and rank. AND I don’t think the way we are going to get more people to understand mental illness is by invalidating the concept of anyone being able to have legitimate struggles with their feelings/emotions OR telling them they cannot relate to any sort of media depicting mental illness because they do not have said illness.

We are all sentient, groaning, crying, laughing, potato beings and there is space to discuss that and our collective mental health alongside discussion of mental illness itself (which is very important, yep) Let’s do both. 

I think ultimately you cannot and should not attempt to control or police the way people relate to art. I think it’s undeniably cool and interesting that artwork takes on meaning of its own specific to the person who is looking at it. And I should probably add that these are just stupid drawings. I am doing them because I am and if people enjoy them/relate to them/get something from it then that is ace. And I am happy. 

• 31 Aug 2015
• 2144

• #clapping#thank you#rubyetc