Let’s Talk Teen Mental Health

World Teen Mental Wellness Awareness Day,

a day of awareness created by the clothing company Hollister, was the first of its kind focused on mental illness among teenagers. It is celebrated annually on March 2nd.

According to Banyan Treatment Centers, mental health refers to “the state of well-being in which one realizes their abilities, can cope with normal stressors in life, can work productively and fruitfully, can contribute to their community. 

While the study of mental health has become more prevalent over the years, the stigma and prejudice that often follow mental illness diagnoses are far too common in today’s society.

One common misconception is the idea of mental illness and mental health being interchangeable terms. Mental health is crucial to all individuals with or without a mental illness.

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy edited by Kelly Jensen

What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when such a label gets attached to your everyday experiences? In order to understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, no single experience embodies it, and the word itself means different things — wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate? — to different people. 

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to better understanding how mental health affects us daily. Thirty-three writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for a better understanding of how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy. If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages, and let’s get talking.

Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan

Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life.

Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them–that is when they’re even paying attention.

They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible . . . unless they manage to keep it a secret.

Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school.

Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built, her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity begins to fall apart.