Joes Daughter aims to be what many approaches to mental health are not: personal and playful. We’re trying to change the language that we speak around issues of depression and anxiety, to bring back compassion and creativity not only in the way that we talk about these conditions, but also in the concrete ways that we try to address them.
Joes Daughter was inspired by my mum, Carol, who has for the past seven years struggled with her own severe anxiety and depression. It has been a fraught, painful and maddening period for her, and also for those who care about and for her. She is a down-to-earth British housewife, who had abundant joy for her home, her three children and husband. Her situation wasn’t creative, or intellectual, wasn’t reasoned or understood. It was just something that happened to her, that she has endured, that was utterly undirected, and unnecessary.
We are at a loss about how to treat her, how to handle, or even, hope for recovery, and how to live ordinary lives. And we’ve become frustrated with what’s available – books that intellectualize madness or apply self-help techniques; the language that speaks of rather than to clients; the overwhelming amount of information that addresses every pathway – spiritual, psychopharmacology, physical; and the endless lists of therapists and specialists.
We need, and she needs, something more personal. Something real, and human, and, we hope, attainable. We intend to do this by:
- Bringing in a new interpersonal and visual language for mental health. Our graphic identity, everything about us, will speak not of doctor’s surgeries, psychiatric wards, and medication, but aspects of the world that are natural, handmade and tangible.
- We aim to be positive overall. And we want to do this by asking those who have recovered from mental disorders or who are managing their illness to let us know what works for them. To share which psychiatrist, medication, yoga, exercise, vitamin, hospital ward, walk, or person has actually helped them. We’re not interested in all the options, not endless lists and referrals, but finding, quickly and painlessly, those who might help.
- We believe that community, creativity and charity have a place in managing mental health. We advocate for any attitude or activity that is people based, that joins people together; that encourages spending time creating whether food or craft, paintings or poems; and that has a social purpose and connectivity – helping others helps.
- And lastly, we want to be naïve, and magical, joyful and hopeful, and act as an antidote to the overwhelming darkness that can be mental illness.