Cody Christopherson

@cdchristopherson.bsky.social

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Counseling, Clinical Psychology, Therapy, Psychopathology, Comics, Cartooning, Graphic Novels, Graphic Medicine, mental health, mental illness, psychotherapy, meta-science, open science #graphicmedicine

Cartoon by Vaughan Tomlinson
Kevin Budnik, 2019
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so. Love, Nick
I know this because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is, I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. I lacked the knowledge, the foresight, the self-awareness. I just didn’t know. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Dear Valerio, You are right to be worried about your growing feelings of cynicism and you need to take action to protect yourself and those around you, especially your child. Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils.
Following the last few years I’m feeling empty and more cynical than ever. I’m losing faith in other people, and I’m scared to pass these feelings to my little son. Do you still believe in Us (human beings)? VALERIO, STOCKHOLM (AND ROME), SWEDEN (AND ITALY)
Two people walking together. One is smoking. The other says "It's impossible to talk with you. You only give solutions."
Queen Elizabeth's Final Diary Entry Contained Only Five Words
Figure 1. Example panels using well-known characters in the service of graphic public health. Sources clockwise from upper left corner: Daniel, T.S. & Morey, T. (2020); Farar & Musial (1961); U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1981); Spider-Man, Storm and Power Man Battle Smokescreen (1982)
Me standing next to an enormous tree
NYTimes headline: the angry bird vandalizing a coastal New England town
Six panel comic called Moonchild by Noah Van Sciver in which a male character with a moustache gradually turns into a deconstructed piece of art while he is absorbed in his own thoughts
Picture of a guy on his phone with green demons eating his brain. Captions read "Phone demons eat focus" and "no natural defense against invasive species". Art by Jeffrey Lewis
Psychiatry patient with sign reading The end is near Therapist says "Don't sweat the huge stuff." Cartoon by Mike Baldwin
Cover of comic True Story Swear To God #13
An image of a car windshield decal that reads :): BIPOLAR
Two men talking: GRANTED! BUT MOST MEN CARRY PHOTOS OF THEIR LOVED ONES! I LOVE NOBODY! ERGO. NO PHOTOS! IS THAT ALL?!
"A white male pharmacist hands a comic book to a white child and his mother as part of a good-will program for every child that comes into the pharmacy. Caption reads: "Pharmacist Harry Goldstein of Towne Pharmacy offers a young customer a free comic book while mother looks on. Comic magazines, lollipops, pencils and other novelties are given out to youngsters in a good-will building program." Image from University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Full image credit here: https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AG2SN33CDGRL4K8P
Superman with a group of school kids saying "if you hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or anyone else because of his religion, race, or national origin--don't wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN."
The cover of Sonic Disruptors #3
Credit: Artist John Larigakis. Caption: Stop Thinking Start Drinking
Delirium by Terry Moore
"Wouldn't it have been better if the North American Indians had banned immigration?"
"All of a sudden it came over me that man is a parasite."
"The thing that bothers me is that I've never encountered a happy psychiatrist."
"My wife's faults I can stand. It's her virtues that kill me."
"I get even with my family through the Christmas presents I give them."
"I'm beginning to find myself out, and I don't like it."
"I'm certain the way I feel is different, from anyone else in history."
Caption "I want someone to undress for."
"I hate the human race. You know why? Because I think I'm as good as anybody, and I'm despicable."
Hero cartoon with caption "Couldn't I just fight for my ideals rather than live up to them?"
Faces with caption "I'm pretty good tempered unless I'm in the wrong."
A face with caption "I wonder what I would do if I were sure no one would find it out."
Cover of my mind went all to pieces
Two panel comic strip. Panel one, a man lies on the psychiatrist couch and says “I’m feeling happier than I have in weeks.” The psychiatrist responds “let’s explore that till we find the fallacy on which your happiness is based.”
A cartoon advertisement for Postum, framed as a public health message about caffeine, featuring a character known as "Mr. Coffee-nerves"
Single panel of superman crying. Thought balloon reads "Heart of Steel -- Huh? Then -- Why aren't these tears metal? Why do they burn so?"
"Life is a garden, not a road. We enter and exit through the same gate. Wandering, where we go matters less than what we notice." -Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
A comic panel in which a phrenologist says to Nancy “Let me read your brain—only ten cents.” Nancy replies “no thanks”. By Ernie Bushmiller.
The covers of two books: Neurocomic by Hana Ros and Matteo Farinela and Lavender Clouds by Bex Ollerton.