Part 5 of The Voice Of Hope Newsletter Interview with Dianne Stringer the Peer Support Coordinator, Recovery Educator at Patient/Client & Family Council in Penetanguishene, Ontario Canada.

• (Part 1 The Voice of HOPE: Humor in the Darkness of Mental Illness)
• (Part 2 The Voice Of Hope: Humor to Escape Mental Illness)
• (Part 3 The Voice of Hope: Positive Mental Health Humor)
• (Part 4 The Voice of Hope: When Did you start Drawing Mental Health Humor Cartoons)
• (Part 5 The Voice of Hope: Words Of the Wisdomless)

Chato B. Stewart is one of those gems you find when Googling for information for this newsletter. He opened himself up to me recently. Turns out, this guy has some real insight and we could all learn something from his path and his laughter. – Dianne Stringer

Dianne: Any pearls of wisdom you can share would be wonderful!

Chato: People need to know it’s ok to talk about mental illness! Humor doesn’t just break the ice to help people feel comfortable talking about mental health, it builds bridges to connect people living with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder with those who don’t understand the illness by opening up channels of communication.
One of my favorite pearls of wisdom: “Live Life Like a Cartoon and Always Bring Your Eraser.”

Part 4 of The Voice Of Hope Newsletter Interview with Dianne Stringer the Peer Support Coordinator, Recovery Educator at Patient/Client & Family Council in Penetanguishene, Ontario Canada.

• (Part 1 The Voice of HOPE: Humor in the Darkness of Mental Illness)
• (Part 2 The Voice Of Hope: Humor to Escape Mental Illness)
• (Part 3 The Voice of Hope: Positive Mental Health Humor)

Chato B. Stewart is one of those gems you find when Googling for information for this newsletter. He opened himself up to me recently. Turns out, this guy has some real insight and we could all learn something from his path and his laughter. – Dianne Stringer

Dianne: What possesses you to draw?

Chato: Drawing the cartoons, like I mentioned earlier, started while I was in the psychiatric ward. What kept me drawing them was selfish reasons… You see, I was using the cartoons as art therapy. It wasn’t until I posted three cartoons online, after a friend encouraged me to make a website for them, that I realized the power behind something as simple as a cartoon to bring a little smile to one of my peers.

Within less than two months, I was hired as a blogger for mental health at a blogging network. In May 2010, I started blogging at Psych Central (established in 1995). It’s the Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health and psychology network. I feel right at home blogging; not to mention meeting many mental health advocates and peers helps me feel that I’m not alone in my recovery.

Part 3 of The Voice Of Hope Newsletter Interview with Dianne Stringer the Peer Support Coordinator, Recovery Educator at Patient/Client & Family Council in Penetanguishene, Ontario Canada.

• (Part 1 The Voice of HOPE: Humor in the Darkness of Mental Illness)
• (Part 2 The Voice Of Hope: Humor to Escape Mental Illness)

Chato B. Stewart is one of those gems you find when Googling for information for this newsletter. He opened himself up to me recently. Turns out, this guy has some real insight and we could all learn something from his path and his laughter. – Dianne Stringer

Dianne: Have your cartoons always been relatively positive? If not, tell me about that.

Chato: Dianne, I started drawing the Mental Health Humor cartoons during my last vacation in the Crisis Stabilization Unit at Charlotte Behavioral Health Care in Punta Gorda, Florida in 2008. Right from the start, the cartoons were meant to be positive with a little flavor of skepticism.

My goal was to draw cartoons from the point of view of the consumer (survivor/patient). I figured, it’s about time that some cartoons focus on situations Mental Health Consumers deal with. Yet at the same time, give us a chance to laugh. Not to laugh at ourselves because we’re mentally ill… No, never, rather find humor in some of the situations we get ourselves into.