In cartoonist/writer/illustrator Gemma Correll‘s new graphic memoir Anxietyland, coping with lifelong anxiety and depression with a sense of humor is a key to resilience. It’s “(a) hilarious thrill ride exploring the mysteries of the mind-body connection…shot through with the absurd knowledge that there is no linear way through Anxietyland, nor any cure-alls—but there are ways to feel better if you keep trying to move forward” (publisher blurb).
An excerpt is available at The Guardian.
Corrells also authored, relatedly, a 2015 cartoon collection, The Worrier’s Guide to Life.
Regarding Anxietyland, Publishers Weekly states, “The narrative opens with Gemma undergoing an attack of ‘the bad feeling’ so intense she checks herself into a hospital. She visits the psych ward for group therapy, prompting flashbacks that recount her lifelong struggles.”
The Bad Feeling, explains LA Johnson, NPR, is “this ever-present feeling like a pit in her stomach” she’s had since childhood. “Her drawn representation of the bad feeling is a sickly pink blob with sharp teeth, mean eyes and claws. It hovers over her and tells her nasty things to keep her afraid. When Correll is told she is over-sensitive, shy and even a freak, The Bad Feeling kicks her while she is down. She struggles to fit in, find friends, and feel safe. Her mind is often on the ‘Worry-go-round,’ and she is hyper vigilant about keeping her cat Oliver safe from countless perils.”
Anxietyland has been like a theme park for her, with such attractions as Downward Spiral, Control Freak Show, House of No Fun, Magical Thinking Show, Emotional Rollercoaster, and Parade of the Therapists.
“Boozy” (alcohol), moreover, has been her main self-medication and “a very bad friend.” Overworking at some point takes its place.
In the present her more frequent and intolerable panic attacks lead to finally getting an actual diagnosis—anxiety and panic disorder—as well as some effective treatment.
Correll has stated recently that she’s always in process regarding her mental health and is not trying to provide self-help via this book. Regarding professional help, she told Steven Heller (PrintMag), “I am currently therapist-less, as I prefer to do ‘courses’ of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Maybe my next therapist will have read the book and found some unique insights that I hadn’t previously considered, but I’m not expecting that. CBT is a pretty well-established method and I doubt that I had much to say about anxiety and phobias that was new. I’m not trying to kid myself that I am in any way unique, I just wanted to add a different angle to the experience that so many of us have. Some people (like me) are more visual, and I’m hoping that my drawings and visual metaphors might be helpful to them in ways that dense text or academic writing might not be.”
Selected Reviews of Anxietyland
Samantha Irby: “Gemma Correll perfectly captures the hunted animal feeling of being a depressed, anxious babe in a way that is so vulnerable and funny and good.”
Roz Chast: “A deeply felt and surprisingly funny book.”
Jenny Lawson: “Equal parts hysterical, heartbreaking, and hopeful.”
