One of the things I love about going to the library is the serendipity that happens every time I go. I almost never go looking for a specific book: I just kinda wander around until I see something that looks interesting. My favorite places to look are on the return carts on the second floor and that’s where I found “Just Peachy” by Holly Chisholm, a collection of comics exploring living with depression and anxiety.
A fact about me that I don’t generally bring up (but am also not ashamed of) is that I myself struggle with depression and anxiety. I was only diagnosed a little over a year and a half ago so it’s still something I’m learning how to deal with. And, as many people who struggle with these issues often experience, I have been recommended book after book on how to cope or redirect or some other thing.
Here’s the thing. I’ve been meditating since I was in college. I’m first aid certified. I was a mediator in school and went through training for that. I know all the damn breathing exercises and “patterns for positive thinking”. So I’m kinda just done with the self-help sector of reading materials. Being depressed or anxious is HARD and DRAINING and the feelings you feel and the thoughts that run through your head can make you feel SO. ALONE.
This book, thankfully, isn’t a self-help. It’s exactly what it says it is: “comics about depression, anxiety, love, and finding the humor in being sad”. It’s not trying to fix you. It’s not trying to turn your life around. It’s sharing another person’s struggles and journey, what worked, what didn’t, and makes no claims or guarantees.
The whole book was HIGHLY relatable. It was eye-opening and, frankly, relieving to see my own thoughts and feelings mirrored by someone else in a way that I could “get”. There is one page in particular that hit like bricks. It illustrated how even when you get enough sleep, you can still feel like you’ve been hit by a train. Or another page where the first line is “I don’t want people to treat me differently because I have depression”. That whole thought is why I don’t tend to bring it up or even chime in when others are discussing their depression.
If you struggle with mental health challenges or even if you don’t, you should give this book a read. And follow the author on the various socials!
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