Living with a Sleepless Mind adds stress to my life! Sleeping issues are normally one of the key factors in the identification of a mental health disorder. Granted, it is not the only factor, but it seems to come up a lot.

Some of the very first questions a therapist asks is “How are you sleeping?” Does identifying our sleep pattern really help identify our mental state or help with a diagnosis?

Police Man: Yah… I see this every winter… Snow hoarding! Normally, it’s just a nuisance. But, this snow hoarder is blocking a public walk way
and fire hydrant… It’s time for an intervention, It’s gut-a go!

Hoarding is a psychological condition where the Hoarder collects items, objects, and even animals to extreme, unfathomable levels.  At home, living spaces are overrun by whatever the hoarder is collecting.  Many times on top of that collection is trash, refuse and unhealthy living conditions.

I’ve watched the TV show about hoarding and it was a bit scary.  Some of it resembled my parents.  Fortunately, my parents got a handle on the issue and just started throwing things away.  That was a good time!

That is not why I did this cartoon, the reason I did this cartoon was…

Card: Mavious Loved To Garden

Caption: The Tombstone was of George’s Fondest Memories

A while back, Barbara Rubel asked me if I have drawn any cartoons about dealing with bereavement.  It’s one of those subjects that needs to be  handled with a little finesses and tact. This is my first attempt at a bereavement cartoon.

You might Remember Barbara Rubel from the 2010 Cartoon-a-thon.

Each year the Mental Health Humor Project holds a Cartoon-A-Thon… It is a small way to get a few dollars to support the mental health humor cartoons.  Last year, it helped raise funding and donations for a new computer, donated air fare, and a laptop.  Something, I’ve been working for over two years!  Thank you very much!!  The sponsors and donations enabled me to get to my first DBSA conference.  It’s your support and the support of the cartoon-a-thon sponsors that helped me be able to draw the mental health humor cartoons.

Once again, the cartoon-a-thon will focus on YOU, the Mental Health Hero!  Last year, it was such a huge success that I want to do it again this year for Mental Health Awareness Month!  I’ll draw a caricature of the featured hero and post it on the day sponsored. Our goal is to Highlight 31 Mental Health Heroes! So, dust off your cape…take off the mask and let’s have some “fun” bringing awareness to serious issues!

Right now, we are accepting new monthly sponsors to the site…  please consider to  sponsor us now to help out.  I will be posting more about becoming a mental health hero later.  Out of the 31 days, there are only 24 days left.  I’m giving away three more to the first three people that can identify all the characters and the logo to the right.

There are 7 images from 7 different cartoons in my new logo.  E-mail me the link to each cartoon from my blog and win ONE day for May 2011′s Cartoon-a-Thon (Valued at $100.00)… No hints, No clues, just cartoons from my blog. You must e-mail with all 7 blog posts or links to the images chato@chatobstewart.com. Not sure what the cartoon-a-thon is? Check out the site: http://mentalhealthcartoons.com (Contest ends January 31st)

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Woman: Do you really think I have a problem?

Armchair: Oh, yes, for sure! You’re a paranoid schizophrenic, with psychotic tendencies. I’m also picking up Depression an a little OCD & BPD…

Title: Armchair Diagnosis

On a more serious note, I want to share with you an excellent blog post By Ronald Pies, M.D. entitled, The Arizona Shootings: A Recurrent American Tragedy.

The post highlights the real link between mental illness and violence in a balanced perspective. While I read it I got the idea for this cartoon.  But don’t let that detract away from the seriousness of what happened in Arizona.