Our minds are such complicated mazes, we sometimes need help navigating them. After artist Kate Allan, who was struggling with her mental health, felt the impact of therapy, she decided to pass on some of the things she learned. The author of the book You Can Do All Things created a series of cartoon drawings that are perfect for those days when your brain goes into complete overdrive to the point where you feel you just can't.
Image credits: thelatestkate
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"I have been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Depression," Kate told Bored Panda. "The [illustrations] half come from exercises I learned in therapy and half from personal experience." According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults in the country age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population.
It is also not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to be living with depression or as well. Nearly half of those diagnosed with the first mental problem are also diagnosed with the latter.
"Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy have both been helpful in managing my mental health," Kate added. "Eating well, exercising, creating, and working to have solid relationships have helped, too." Her determination to get better makes Kate one of the few. Even though anxiety disorders are highly treatable, only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.
If you liked the comic, consider getting it as a print from Kate’s redbubble shop. And if you want to check out more of her work, fire up her profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, or Twitter.
Trying to achieve some goals every day, no matter how trivial they seem to others!
Wish my family believed this. But my husband always supports me, best guy ever. 34 years.
Thank you, Tor. Accurate, funny, and actually helpful to me ^‿^
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Like I am sure many others, if I could believe that I'd be getting somewhere
believe it! you deserve better than the demons in your mind, eating your happiness to feed the steadily growing self hatred inside. stay strong!
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btw i will forget i wrote this here. you will like it 3 months from now. i will want to see what did you like of me. i will come back following the notification. but since the website is fcked up i will never find my comment unless i check out each and every single comment on this page. i hate this s**t so much
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Ironic that I'm hurting right now because someone decided to "ultra-self-care" on themselves 1200% at my expense?
hey, kate? i know you probably won't read this, but i just wanted to let you know that everything you wrote in your drawings is true. you're a beautiful person, both inside and out, and it's unfair that people like you have to struggle with their mental health, because our lives are crazy enough without our heads telling us that we can't do it. i know you'll probably read this and brush it off as me just being nice or something, but you need to know that everything I say is true. you're probably thinking 'oh, she hasn't met me, she doesn't know what a horrible person I am, etc,' but i mean everything I say, and I want you to be able to believe it. you're amazing, and we really are lucky to have you. keep going, and stay strong. <3
Yes Kate keep going strong we’ all strangers but we support each other
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Please don't blur the profanity. They are valid statements, because sometimes life really IS s****y, and defacing the artist's work doesn't change that. The censorship is more disrespectful, and condescending.
Yes I agree, blurring swear words is really stupid, kids aren't stupid and they know what's behind the blurs so they could just show them
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I have seen this all over Pinterest and love them!! So happy to find out more about the person who creates them! My Favorite has a blue space kitty on it that says "Stop calling yourself a sh*t. You're a Blueberry Fairy Princess. You're amazing." (trying to add a pic, hopefully it'll work!) 01-5d0095fce8004.jpg 
I really needed these today. They are beautiful, and kind, and helpful. Thank you.
Thank you for this. You have no idea what it does to me to read these. : )
Just for today...... (for those who know.............).....
Helped me get out of bed today and to be kind to myself during this wave of depression that has once again hit me. I saved this so I can use it again when I wake up in a crippling state of anxiety. Thank you.
Sending love. 💝 I know how difficult It is to live with depression.
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To be frank, I never thought I had a problem but this got me thinking about how fake the person my “Best Friends” know me as is, even my family has started to know the fake me since, I’m supposed to be “changing” but it’s just. I’ve started to believe my act is the real me, I just feel like I’m not ever going to be better then the image of “me” is so why even be the real me. Why not be her? She’s perfect, the perfect “me” my favorite character. Out of all the images I've created she’s the best. So why don’t I just, get rid of the “Real” me if she’s so much better?? I want to be “Me” but I’m sure “I” won’t be good enough. It’s almost like I'm being pushed out by this alter ego I created. Like, I don’t know, I’m being somehow, replaced by the character I created. But these have truely made me dig out this truth, something I always knew. But I just didn’t have the courage to admit I hid it far beneath, so in a way this has saved “me” from letting myself be consumed.
Thank you for such wonderful art and encouraging messages. Some days are up, some are down, but these always help.
It's a pleasure for me to write this testimony about how i got my Genital Herpes cured a month ago. i have been reading so many comments of some people who were cured from various diseases by Dr .Hazim, but i never believed them. I was hurt and depressed so I was too curious and wanted to try Dr. Hazim , then i contacted him through his email when i contact him, he assured me 100% that he will heal me, i pleaded with him to help me out. My treatment was a great success, he healed me just as he promised. he sent me his medication and ask me to go for check up after 21 days of taking the medication. i agreed with him i took this medication and went for check up after 21 days of the treatment, To my greatest surprise my result came out negative after the treatment, I'm very happy that i was cured and been healthy again. I waited for 3 weeks to be very sure if I was completely healed before writing this testimony. I did another blood test one week ago and it was still Herpes negative. so
So here’s a cool but unfortunate event -_- so I have a friend on roblox and she usually uses my account to add stuff or something and then we played a game together and she asked for my password again so I said, “why do u keep forgetting?” And obviously I decided to give it to her because she is my friend irl and then she said to chat with her online and she said she was gonna give me Robux and when she was done I reset the page it said on her profile, I’m sorry for all the lies I’ve spread and I’m not actually (friends username) and I decided to unfriend them because she then told me irl that one of her “friends” took her account so now I’m having a sucky day ;-;
I don't know what is worse, stigmatising mental illness by illustrating it as scary monsters or these meaningless rainbow quotes for people who think it's deep to have mild anxiety from using Instagram too much. Either way, this trite doesn't help anyone with chronic mental illnesses, which won't just go away tomorrow.
GAD is a real mental illness. If you believe that this "trite" doesn't help anyone, look at the rest of these comments; they say otherwise. Please don't be negative and condescending to an artist who is trying to uplift herself and others.
Load More Replies...
hey, kate? i know you probably won't read this, but i just wanted to let you know that everything you wrote in your drawings is true. you're a beautiful person, both inside and out, and it's unfair that people like you have to struggle with their mental health, because our lives are crazy enough without our heads telling us that we can't do it. i know you'll probably read this and brush it off as me just being nice or something, but you need to know that everything I say is true. you're probably thinking 'oh, she hasn't met me, she doesn't know what a horrible person I am, etc,' but i mean everything I say, and I want you to be able to believe it. you're amazing, and we really are lucky to have you. keep going, and stay strong. <3
Yes Kate keep going strong we’ all strangers but we support each other
Load More Replies... Please don't blur the profanity. They are valid statements, because sometimes life really IS s****y, and defacing the artist's work doesn't change that. The censorship is more disrespectful, and condescending.
Yes I agree, blurring swear words is really stupid, kids aren't stupid and they know what's behind the blurs so they could just show them
Load More Replies... I have seen this all over Pinterest and love them!! So happy to find out more about the person who creates them! My Favorite has a blue space kitty on it that says "Stop calling yourself a sh*t. You're a Blueberry Fairy Princess. You're amazing." (trying to add a pic, hopefully it'll work!) 01-5d0095fce8004.jpg
I really needed these today. They are beautiful, and kind, and helpful. Thank you.
Thank you for this. You have no idea what it does to me to read these. : )
Just for today...... (for those who know.............).....
Helped me get out of bed today and to be kind to myself during this wave of depression that has once again hit me. I saved this so I can use it again when I wake up in a crippling state of anxiety. Thank you.
Sending love. 💝 I know how difficult It is to live with depression.
Load More Replies... To be frank, I never thought I had a problem but this got me thinking about how fake the person my “Best Friends” know me as is, even my family has started to know the fake me since, I’m supposed to be “changing” but it’s just. I’ve started to believe my act is the real me, I just feel like I’m not ever going to be better then the image of “me” is so why even be the real me. Why not be her? She’s perfect, the perfect “me” my favorite character. Out of all the images I've created she’s the best. So why don’t I just, get rid of the “Real” me if she’s so much better?? I want to be “Me” but I’m sure “I” won’t be good enough. It’s almost like I'm being pushed out by this alter ego I created. Like, I don’t know, I’m being somehow, replaced by the character I created. But these have truely made me dig out this truth, something I always knew. But I just didn’t have the courage to admit I hid it far beneath, so in a way this has saved “me” from letting myself be consumed.
Thank you for such wonderful art and encouraging messages. Some days are up, some are down, but these always help.
It's a pleasure for me to write this testimony about how i got my Genital Herpes cured a month ago. i have been reading so many comments of some people who were cured from various diseases by Dr .Hazim, but i never believed them. I was hurt and depressed so I was too curious and wanted to try Dr. Hazim , then i contacted him through his email when i contact him, he assured me 100% that he will heal me, i pleaded with him to help me out. My treatment was a great success, he healed me just as he promised. he sent me his medication and ask me to go for check up after 21 days of taking the medication. i agreed with him i took this medication and went for check up after 21 days of the treatment, To my greatest surprise my result came out negative after the treatment, I'm very happy that i was cured and been healthy again. I waited for 3 weeks to be very sure if I was completely healed before writing this testimony. I did another blood test one week ago and it was still Herpes negative. so
So here’s a cool but unfortunate event -_- so I have a friend on roblox and she usually uses my account to add stuff or something and then we played a game together and she asked for my password again so I said, “why do u keep forgetting?” And obviously I decided to give it to her because she is my friend irl and then she said to chat with her online and she said she was gonna give me Robux and when she was done I reset the page it said on her profile, I’m sorry for all the lies I’ve spread and I’m not actually (friends username) and I decided to unfriend them because she then told me irl that one of her “friends” took her account so now I’m having a sucky day ;-;
I don't know what is worse, stigmatising mental illness by illustrating it as scary monsters or these meaningless rainbow quotes for people who think it's deep to have mild anxiety from using Instagram too much. Either way, this trite doesn't help anyone with chronic mental illnesses, which won't just go away tomorrow.
GAD is a real mental illness. If you believe that this "trite" doesn't help anyone, look at the rest of these comments; they say otherwise. Please don't be negative and condescending to an artist who is trying to uplift herself and others.
Load More Replies... 