Local youth use art and storytelling to illustrate the personal and system challenges in mental health.
The words and images are both heartbreaking and hopeful.
“Nobody likes you if you are sad.”
you are enough. stay strong. let life surprise you.
“Please don’t leave like everyone else.”
1 year sober. 1 year of school. 1 year building a safe home. 1 year loving myself.
Zine-writing, a personal and introspective medium often used by people who have been marginalized, is an important part of local research that is finding solutions to complex mental health challenges among young adults. Its name derives from its magazine (“zine”) format.
“When we make the voices of people with lived experience central to our research, we can learn from each other and then change the system together,” says Dr. Arlene MacDougall, founder of MINDS of London-Middlesex.
The social innovation and research lab based at St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) is dedicated to designing, piloting and testing mental health innovations for teens and young adults. Its recent evolution into MINDS 2.0 adds insights by and for people up to age 35 who have complex, pervasive mental health and addiction issues.
Learning from experts
Rin, a London artist, who has published independent zines for a decade, created three for this project, including one that, with irony, asks the reader to ponder which vulnerable people aren’t worth saving.
“I believe making art can be very healing,” says Rin. “I wanted to share some of my story to help myself and help others. I want to play a part in shaping a mental health system that’s better than the one I encountered.”
The zines weave art, prose and poetry into story:
3 things I would change: affordability, stigma, waitlists.
“If I had a magic wand, I would use it to heal the waters, grow the trees, foster animal growth.”
Look in the mirror, see how far you’ve come.
They also raise and propose solutions to troubling issues among people with mental illness: housing and homelessness, sparse resources for people with addictions, lack of coordination among service providers, and dehumanizing attitudes in health and criminal justice systems.
“Participants experienced catharsis just in telling their stories,” says Renee Hunt PhD, Associate Director of Research and Operations at MINDS. “And because they’re the experts, they’re also playing an important part in changing systems that need an overhaul.”
Adds Rin, “It feels empowering knowing people are listening to us – people who care and are committed to making change to the system.”
MacDougall notes the pivotal role of St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation – in particular, a groundbreaking $5-million donation towards mental health research from philanthropist Ryan Finch – in advancing mental health innovation through MINDS and MINDS 2.0.
“They’ve been our biggest supporters since day one. This wouldn’t have happened without support from Ryan and the foundation and all the many donors who believe in mental health research,” says MacDougall, who is also Director of Research and Innovation with St. Joseph’s Mental Health Care Program.
“MINDS has been a catalyst for system change,” MacDougall adds. “Research is always about finding answers and generating impact.”
Many findings from MINDS research have been put into practice, among them are the creation of guidebooks for peer support, free taxi service for rural youth needing urban mental health or addiction services, and educational resources to support 2SLGBTQI+ students.
MacDougall says MINDS 2.0 expands that work with new voices and the exploration of more in-depth solutions.
What’s next for MINDS 2.0
- Workshopping ideas and prototypes for mental health systems change. Sessions will be held where people with lived/living experience and service providers propose and develop potential solutions.
- Leadership-building. Twenty mental health practitioners will be trained to become “agents of change” who will collectively create, implement and evaluate mental health programs, technology, interventions and training.
- Imaginarium conference. In 2025, a first-of-its-kind national conference will take place to share system innovations in mental health and addiction.
