But some supers also have to cope with mental illness. Best mentally ill characters this list is for the best characters, not the best books. Whether its in a comic book or a movie, most everyone has seen a superhero. There are, however, other, often personal, comics that can open your eyes to real human experiences with mental disorders. Illustrator draws humorous comics about her mental illness. This really depends on how you want to parse out what counts as mental illness in comic books. The joker was abandoned as a baby and adopted by a lady who has narcissistic personality disorder and delusions of. The best writers on the book seem to be the ones who put poor matt. The themes of the film included the gross mistreatment of psychiatric patients in the sixties and the criminalization and ostracization of freethinking, antiauthoritative people. While most of these characters have suffered from mental illness at some point in their career, the struggle for antman, aka giant man, aka yellowjacket, aka goliath, has been ongoing. What are the top 10 mentally ill dc and marvel comic characters. Common sense media editors help you choose books that feature characters dealing with mental illness. The iconic character, also known as bruce banner, is a brilliant scientist who was. Many comic books that involve a psychological disorder are written by an artist who can relate to these issues on a personal level.
As well as the moon, moon knight is influenced by the heroes around. Depending on the situation, mental illness can be used to explain the suffering of a character, or make them seem more scary and frightening. For instance, hoppy the marvel bunny may act in strange ways to our eyes but within the context of his story he is perfectly normal. By showing us heroes with these problems, marvel did a great. Psychiatrist vasilis pozios and renowned illustrator marguerite sauvage have joined forces to create aura, a new superpowered hero who also happens to have bipolar disorder. While most of us have actually grown up watching cartoons. The following ten graphic novels and comics show a huge diversity of perspectives on mental health and some of them are downright hilarious in their depictions. His character in the comics has been sober for a long ass time. This makes superman an interesting character and proves that. Its no wonder that heroes might suffer depression as a result. The first week of october is recognized as mental health awareness week, while in november we recognize international survivors of suicide loss day. Many heroes in recent comic bookmovie history have battled with mental health issues. The temptation to examine the human condition through characters who think or behave in ways we find strange is a common theme in literature, and yet more and more of society is waking up to the fact that frivolous depictions of mental illness can have serious realworld implications.
Robbie williams, tana ford and more gathered at c2e2 to discuss the importance of creators addressing how mental health is presented in comics. He is the type of character that has an impressive attitude like being optimistic, hardworking, friendly, energetic, always happy, and adventure lover. The comic that explains where joker went wrong the. Why everyone should be reading comic books longtime comic book fans are well aware of the benefits that come from reading comics. And most heroes have, if not a full blown mental illness, some amount of severe psychological problems. Spongebob is one of the funniest and loveable characters today.
Worse, many have been shamed for struggling with depression and other forms of mental health. Initiating awareness and conversations about mental health is a crucial need in these times of great psychological distress. Possibly the most celebrated graphic text to substantively tackle mental illness is alison bechdel s memoir about her relationship with her father, fun home. Most people have not been taught to name and understand their mental health experiences. Comic book superhero helps fight stigma surrounding mental. Mentallyill and insane characters have a long and storied history in anime and manga. Mental health awareness through superheroes comicbook debate. But if we try to think what it might be like for a real person to have their traits, it might not look like a good idea. In comics there are plenty of characters with a mental illness or mental disorder. Given the prevalence of mental illness, you might ask yourself if your characters arent a little too sane. Two of the main characters are having serious mental troubles extreme anxiety, rage, need for mental manipulation and is stated, that both may or may not existed just in the head of the third main character.
Books that feature characters dealing with mental illness. Its a subject never far from the minds and pens of many cartoonists. Six comic book characters who suffer from a mental illness. Scarlett ohara gone with the wind the archetypal character with histrionic personality disorder. The importance of addressing trauma and mental health in.
A lot of the time though, it can be difficult to find characters and storylines you directly relate to. In the interests of a blog im about to write, can anyone think of any comic books or comic book characters, now or ever which have dealt with mental illness in a way that you consider to be. In superhero stories, mental illness is often associated with violence and villainy. At gocomics, creators share their struggles with anxiety, depression, and more with an aim to relate to readers who may be going through the same thing. Many of these authors experienced mental illness themselves firsthand, and their work reflects some of their own personal struggles. She also has migraine headaches not uncommon in people with bipolar disorder with visual aura although. Childrens comic cartoon characters with psychological disorders. Throughout the hundreds of comic books that carry the stories of these. Ya novels with characters who have chronic or mental. The book describes the physiology of trauma, many case studies, and new nonpharmaceutical treatments. So there are six comic book characters who are way more messed up than you and i, and if they cant get mental health right with all their power and money, then what hope do we have.
What are the top 10 mentally ill dc and marvel comic. Why reading comic books benefits your mental health. Here are five popular fictional characters with mental illness. How is mental illness represented in superhero comics. Handled with care, a character with mental illness can not only enliven a storyline but also open. Worse, many have been shamed for struggling with depression and other forms of mental health disorders, she told the mighty, adding. Here are a few that i feel encapsulate the struggles of mental illness. Marvel comics has been at the forefront of awareness for mental illness for quite some time. Others only served to pronounce the already wellworn stigma of psychological disorders.
Alexis has bipolar disorder and has survived a suicide attempt. Superheroes and supervillains with mental disorders florida. Geoff johns, who portrayed the character s mental illness, did a fantastic job with that storyline. Heroes fight villains all the time, but its often their internal struggles that are the most important. Superheroes and villains who are mentally ill screenrant. Kids and teens work out depression, anxiety, and more in these compelling stories. On its face, mental illness is nothing to laugh about, but illustrator gemma correll has used her biting wit as a coping mechanism for her own depression and anxiety. Psychologists still like to blame the victim and so do psychiatrists. Its also reflected in his need to be the smartest man in the room at all times. They depict characters with mental illnesses as violent and destructive.
However, these gods are subject to many mental health problems. Much of davids comic history, as well as the excellent legion tv show. Im actually surprised by some of the characters that have these illnesses. Aura aura is the superhero alias of a young woman named alexis pope. Stories chronicling the struggles of young people and their friends, siblings, or parents who suffer from anxiety, depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder ocd, agoraphobia, an eating disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hypochondria, and other illnesses make for engrossing. Those who suffer from mental illnesses may have to see their conditions play out on the small screen in ways that are. Many heroes in recent comic book movie history have battled with mental health issues. Here are 15 superheroes and villains whove struggled with mental illness. The word histrionic refers to theatrical or acting. Heroes have to keep their identities secret and deal with everyday heroic problems. Mental health americas mental health month promotes mental health as a critical part of overall wellness. Fictional characters with psychological disorders flow. So ive taken it upon myself to share with you some mental illnesses and the characters that have them.
Fun home explores bechdels queerness as well as her obsessivecompulsive disorder. The bell jar by sylvia plath, all the bright places by jennifer niven, turtles all the way down by john green, its kind. His behavior indicates a tenuous grasp of reality combined with an absence of basic impulse control. Comics are a good medium for exploring mental health, and there are. How to treat mentally ill characters when writing a novel. Identifying mental illness in comic books requires notice of a characters behavior as it is or becomes irrational to the social norms of the comic book. You must be out of your mind if you are able to kill somebody or if you think that you should rule the world. There are hundreds of extremely worthy films that have been made over the years that deal with the issue of mental illness, but these ones are fantastic and in most cases very educational. A crucial example on this list is iron man himself, tony stark. The storyline present in iron man 3 explores a tony suffering from ptsd. If youre tired of faking it, want to get a little perspective, or just want to laugh really hard at how absurd everything is, take a glance at these graphic novels and comic books. Mental illness is an area frequently misunderstood by authors and readers alike. Either way, these characters have all certainly had their ups and downs. Humor is a powerful way to deal with the barbs of life.
To do what they do, you have to have something in your brain wired abnormally. Most mental illnesses were previously met with a good amount of unfair stigma. The book consists of interviews with four survivors of nearfatal suicide attemptsdiscussing. Thats why it can be completely magical when you find a book that shows what its like to live with a chronic illness, disability or mental health condition.
Marvel comics is a prime example of bringing awareness and ending the stigma of mental illness through their superheroes. Mental illness, superheroes, and stereotypes vasilis. On the whole, the comic book industry still has room to grow when it comes to addressing reallife social problems without exploiting mental health struggles and marginalized populations. They deal with issues across a broad spectrum of mental illnesses, disorders, and clinical psychoses. Mental health awareness through superheroes comicbook. In recognition of mental health awareness month, i have composed a list of several pieces of literature, mostly fiction, that examine the topic of characters suffering from mental illness. I was able to see words to what my anxiety felt like in a character like me. Symptoms involve constant seeking for approval, inappropriate seductive dressing or behaviour, and being overly dramatic and emotional, traits ohara has. No speculative diagnoses here, the characters were all given bipolar disorder by their creators. Dc comics heroes in crisis explores the mental health.
The most lasting comic book attempt at crafting a joker origin. Comics offer their readers parallel worlds, where despite the odds the protagonists of the stories may face, good always. They show readers that even the mightiest of superheroes like thor and captain marvel can be vulnerable. Psychiatrists call out dc on depictions of mentally ill. And her relationship with therapy is later explored in depth in are you my mother. Living with mental illness is a daily struggle for many people and comic book superheroes are a way of escaping our everyday lives.
As well as being the first antman, hank pym is one of the smartest men in the marvel universe. They take the form of relatable mental health comics and illustrations that allow us to commiserate with correll, as well as many others who share her condition. This unique mirrorissue reminds us how anyone can suffer from mental health problems in the world of superheroes. She believes identifying with fictional characters can help us in mental health recovery. We just saw joaquin phoenix win an oscar for playing joker, a comic book character with mental illness, but. Mac does not seem to actually suffer from a mental illness, and neither do several other characters in the psychiatric institution he has been committed to. While most of these characters have suffered from mental illness at some point. Historically, comics have been incredibly bad in their treatment. The importance of addressing trauma and mental health in comics.
To most fans, comics are a continuous source of entertainment that provide an escape from todays daily stressors. Though superhero comics portray mental illness for what it is. Mental health is often misrepresented in most movies. A lot of people shit on her character because they dont like that she ended up with harry, but theres so much more to. We all love cartoons, particularly for the goofy characters who behave in crazy, whacky ways. Superheroes who have depression or any other mental illness. Unfortunately, the handling of his erratic behavior has been, well, erratic. When it comes to mental illness, many tv shows have a hard time really hitting the nail on the head. The shows on tv that actually portray mental illness well. Even though he has those kinds of attitudes, he was included on the list of fictional characters with psychological disorders. We look at superheroes as modern gods in many ways. Nine graphic novels and comic books about mental health.
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