Welcome to Anhecomics!
Anhecomics is an original webcomic about clinical depression based on interviews with anonymous people who suffer from clinical depression or other mental illnesses that cause depression-like symptoms.
These interviews focus on unique details and things that keep people going when hope seems long gone. From there, narratives are constructed that are designed to:
Promote awareness of clinical depression and its nuances;
Provide comfort to clinically depressed people through relatable stories;
Introduce patients to treatment options and self-care methods.
To protect the anonymity of interviewees and make the narratives more universal to each reader, every person interviewed is depicted as this genderless, almost featureless character, which I call “The Blue Person”:
Anhecomics is a work of graphic medicine, a burgeoning field of study devoted to understanding how comics can be used in medical education and patient care. So far, research has drawn positive connections between patients and comics about conditions they suffer from. Short-form narratives coming from a diverse set of sources is a unique approach to the subject matter that I hope will help increase understanding of how comics, and storytelling in general, can assist in mental health treatment.
To stay up to date on Anhecomics, please subscribe to this newsletter and follow me on Instagram.
If you are interested in contributing your voice to this project, please click here for the Anhecomics Submission Survey.
If you are struggling with depression, please click here for the official Anhecomics Resource List.
About the Artist
cooklin is a writer, journalist, and cartoonist based in the Pacific Northwest. Originally from the rural Midwest, she is passionate about storytelling and how it can be used to remove harmful stigmas, such as those surrounding mental illness. She loves cats, chai lattes, Taylor Swift, television, and making people laugh. You can follow her on Instagram at @cooklincomics.