Artist Suffering From Anxiety Illustrates Mental Illnesses As Real Monsters
The link between mental illnesses and city life has been seen for quite some time now, and if you are a city dweller, there’s double a chance to develop psychosis, depression and a number of other anxiety disorders. Typically, the causes are social, such as inequality and isolation, but also physical – pollution and noise.
If you have a mental illness or know somebody who does, you might just understand, how difficult it’s sometimes is to talk about it. Not only you can feel vulnerable when disclosing such sensitive information about yourself, but also you can be left misunderstood. It takes quite a lot of empathy for another person, to get into your shoes and understand how it feels so that they can help you.
Illustrator Toby Allen, decided to deal with explaining and conquering such mental illness types as depression, borderline personality, and anxiety disorder, decided to re-create them as cute monsters. Giving such intangible illnesses some substance, makes them appear more manageable as physical entities.
“The project originated from imagining my own anxieties as inner demons and finding it to be a cathartic and healing process to draw them,” Allen told The Huffington Post. “It made them feel weaker, and I was able to look at my own anxiety comically with the help of these monster drawings.”
More info: zestydoesthings.storenvy.com
“The project originated from imagining my own anxieties as monsters”
“It made them feel weaker and I was able to look at my own anxiety in a comical way”
“I hope it helps [people] see their illness in a different light, make it appear more manageable”
787Kviews
Share on FacebookMake em into stuffed animals... Sell and whatever profit can go to organizations help those with the disorder you bought?... Might be a lot of work though
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575895717/mental-illness-plushies-real-monsters-come-to-life 😆
Load More Replies...this is great. it will help me remember names and descriptions of disorders cuz im psychology major. thanks a lot keep up awesome work :)
Ahahahahahhaha .. :D . Its very creative, in the sense of making the intangible tangible . Awesome job Toby :D
Load More Replies...I love this so much, I have depression, misophonia, ocd, bi-polar and social anxiety. These bring such character to such negative things, they're also beautifully drawn. :) To be honest, I was surprised to find misophonia on the list! It's not very well known about. Great work! Keep it up!
Technically, misophonia is neurological rather than mental, but it does trigger unpleasant mental (and physical) symptoms. I hate it!
Load More Replies...This is so awesome, it actually makes these horrors look cute and pretty and fluffy
kinda curious to see how you would do the learning disabilities (like dyslexia and Auditory processing disorder) or even Post-partum depression. great job :D
I love this! I am an actual sufferer of Misophonia, so I enjoy seeing a monster-ized version of it, very cute! I just hate it when my family looks at me weird if I ask them to stop breathing loudly.
i also have and what to know what adhd looks like.
Load More Replies...Sleep Disorder? That is really vague, as there are numerous. There are 4 major sleep disorder (lotsof minor ones), but I suffer from 2 of them: Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Narcolepsy.
Awesome picts and illustrations. Surely it will help those to understanding more about disorders as a friendly monsters and be friend with them. Thank you.
That was great way to describe serious mental disorders. It could be useful to have these kind of descriptions when giving psychoeducation with kids, youngsters and their families.
I used to say that I fight my mental disorders like Don Quixote faught his windmills.... <3
These are very good. Straight on spot character design. I like every single one. Very good approac on making things visible.
I love this so much! The artworks are amazing, also very inspiring. Great work!
The images and the descriptions are imaginative, beautiful, and moving. Toby, I'd love to see these as prints.
Elizabeth , you can check his website and store if you liked any of the drawings : zestydoesthings.storenvy.com
Load More Replies...Nice! I know some of them and I think about them "my dragons", this and my idea if they look are so smilar! I realle like it :3
Ahahahahahhaha .. :D . Its very creative, in the sense of making the intangible tangible . Awesome job Toby :D
I was gonna be anxiety for Halloween but I don't know how to make the costume ._.
my friend shared this today on facebook and I really enjoyed reading about the monsters. I have been diagnosed with MPD as well as bipolar disorder so it is cool to see the creative outlet you imagined for these mental illnesses. very cool I really enjoyed reading this thanks for creating!
I love this... I am currently using them in my creative writing class for mental illness awareness month. I am having the students use the monsters to inspire a story that showcases the struggles of living with a mental illness.
Here's an interesting psychologist's perspective: http://psychotherapytoronto.ca/illustrating-mental-health-with-cartoons/
Should do a Schizoaffective Disorder somewhere between a Bipolar and a Schizophrenia or a completely new beast of it's own... These are so good.
Having suffered PTSD from serving in Northern Ireland And Iraq this is as close to any description I have heard we all constantly fight our demons but sometime you just have to accept them and learn to cope with them
Call me curious, but is there a monster for autism spectrum disorder?
Who is this artist? I work/ am the art teacher at a school for children who suffer from mental illness, and I would love to share this with them!illness,
Your art is flawless. Would it be okay to get any of these as a tattoo? I am so very very impressed!!! 10/10
As someone who suffers from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and OCD, all I can say is that these are beautiful and thank you. I'm in the process of healing and getting better, these might help.
Excellent descriptions of these distressing and debilitating and very real conditons. One of the best explanations I've seen of OCD
This is awesome! I'd LOVE to see your monster creation for ADD/ADHD!
.....these are freaking adorable... And wwhat a cool idea. If you can visualize something it's easier to fight against it.
Not only wonderful pieces of work, but also very informative for people who are lucky enough to be deemed normal ( whatever normal is )
As someone who has a sleeping disorder, this feels so accurate, so true, like there literally is a monster keeping me up at night
Personality disorders aren't "mental illness. " but the pics are cute.
What fabulous images!! They sum up MH issues brilliantly and creatively!
Could this be made into a formal book? I love these and definitely would buy a book.
These are AWESOME..so good to help people understand the conditions...
These are so cool they look like they can be in a dark a twisted children's story
I did something similair to this when I was suffering from severe depression and anxiety a few years ago. I never pursued it any further than just imagining how he would have looked and the story behind him. This is my Hamish :) - http://battleofmind.com/anxiety/negative-thinking-hamish/
They should also be made into stuffed animals it at least a few of each
I think that it would help Rio make then into stuffed animals...
I think they are precious and the descriptions are very well written.
Amazing work Toby, You've 'hit the nail on the head' literally, congratulations!
Awesome Toby, You've hit the nail on the head 'literally' Congratulations
Make em into stuffed animals... Sell and whatever profit can go to organizations help those with the disorder you bought?... Might be a lot of work though
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575895717/mental-illness-plushies-real-monsters-come-to-life 😆
Load More Replies...this is great. it will help me remember names and descriptions of disorders cuz im psychology major. thanks a lot keep up awesome work :)
Ahahahahahhaha .. :D . Its very creative, in the sense of making the intangible tangible . Awesome job Toby :D
Load More Replies...I love this so much, I have depression, misophonia, ocd, bi-polar and social anxiety. These bring such character to such negative things, they're also beautifully drawn. :) To be honest, I was surprised to find misophonia on the list! It's not very well known about. Great work! Keep it up!
Technically, misophonia is neurological rather than mental, but it does trigger unpleasant mental (and physical) symptoms. I hate it!
Load More Replies...This is so awesome, it actually makes these horrors look cute and pretty and fluffy
kinda curious to see how you would do the learning disabilities (like dyslexia and Auditory processing disorder) or even Post-partum depression. great job :D
I love this! I am an actual sufferer of Misophonia, so I enjoy seeing a monster-ized version of it, very cute! I just hate it when my family looks at me weird if I ask them to stop breathing loudly.
i also have and what to know what adhd looks like.
Load More Replies...Sleep Disorder? That is really vague, as there are numerous. There are 4 major sleep disorder (lotsof minor ones), but I suffer from 2 of them: Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Narcolepsy.
Awesome picts and illustrations. Surely it will help those to understanding more about disorders as a friendly monsters and be friend with them. Thank you.
That was great way to describe serious mental disorders. It could be useful to have these kind of descriptions when giving psychoeducation with kids, youngsters and their families.
I used to say that I fight my mental disorders like Don Quixote faught his windmills.... <3
These are very good. Straight on spot character design. I like every single one. Very good approac on making things visible.
I love this so much! The artworks are amazing, also very inspiring. Great work!
The images and the descriptions are imaginative, beautiful, and moving. Toby, I'd love to see these as prints.
Elizabeth , you can check his website and store if you liked any of the drawings : zestydoesthings.storenvy.com
Load More Replies...Nice! I know some of them and I think about them "my dragons", this and my idea if they look are so smilar! I realle like it :3
Ahahahahahhaha .. :D . Its very creative, in the sense of making the intangible tangible . Awesome job Toby :D
I was gonna be anxiety for Halloween but I don't know how to make the costume ._.
my friend shared this today on facebook and I really enjoyed reading about the monsters. I have been diagnosed with MPD as well as bipolar disorder so it is cool to see the creative outlet you imagined for these mental illnesses. very cool I really enjoyed reading this thanks for creating!
I love this... I am currently using them in my creative writing class for mental illness awareness month. I am having the students use the monsters to inspire a story that showcases the struggles of living with a mental illness.
Here's an interesting psychologist's perspective: http://psychotherapytoronto.ca/illustrating-mental-health-with-cartoons/
Should do a Schizoaffective Disorder somewhere between a Bipolar and a Schizophrenia or a completely new beast of it's own... These are so good.
Having suffered PTSD from serving in Northern Ireland And Iraq this is as close to any description I have heard we all constantly fight our demons but sometime you just have to accept them and learn to cope with them
Call me curious, but is there a monster for autism spectrum disorder?
Who is this artist? I work/ am the art teacher at a school for children who suffer from mental illness, and I would love to share this with them!illness,
Your art is flawless. Would it be okay to get any of these as a tattoo? I am so very very impressed!!! 10/10
As someone who suffers from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and OCD, all I can say is that these are beautiful and thank you. I'm in the process of healing and getting better, these might help.
Excellent descriptions of these distressing and debilitating and very real conditons. One of the best explanations I've seen of OCD
This is awesome! I'd LOVE to see your monster creation for ADD/ADHD!
.....these are freaking adorable... And wwhat a cool idea. If you can visualize something it's easier to fight against it.
Not only wonderful pieces of work, but also very informative for people who are lucky enough to be deemed normal ( whatever normal is )
As someone who has a sleeping disorder, this feels so accurate, so true, like there literally is a monster keeping me up at night
Personality disorders aren't "mental illness. " but the pics are cute.
What fabulous images!! They sum up MH issues brilliantly and creatively!
Could this be made into a formal book? I love these and definitely would buy a book.
These are AWESOME..so good to help people understand the conditions...
These are so cool they look like they can be in a dark a twisted children's story
I did something similair to this when I was suffering from severe depression and anxiety a few years ago. I never pursued it any further than just imagining how he would have looked and the story behind him. This is my Hamish :) - http://battleofmind.com/anxiety/negative-thinking-hamish/
They should also be made into stuffed animals it at least a few of each
I think that it would help Rio make then into stuffed animals...
I think they are precious and the descriptions are very well written.
Amazing work Toby, You've 'hit the nail on the head' literally, congratulations!
Awesome Toby, You've hit the nail on the head 'literally' Congratulations
592
93