Mapping Our Madness, by Back Pocket Zines
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transcribedcomicszines(originally posted 2019/01/31)
Hey guys! I dug up this zine at a garage sale, Mapping Our Madness: A workbook for navigating crisis, extreme states, or just foul moods. It's... er, exactly what it sounds like. Kinda a beefed-up version of the tiny self-help one-pagers I do. Covers things from self-care, triggers, things to do when you're in a bad state, and things that the folks around you might need to know.
No name or organization is listed as creator, but I tracked it down online as coming from Back Pocket Zines! You can buy/trade/nab a copy of them through that wordpress there, or alternately download a PDF here and then print it out. (Note: the pages are in PRINT order, not read order! This is very much NOT a book that works in digital read-only form.) The book definitely comes from the sort of political standpoint of groups like the Icarus Project, so if that's not your thing, pass it by.
I thought the zine would be of interest to the folks here, but the zine, while beautiful, is totally inaccessible as far as screen-readers go, from what I can tell. So for the benefit of everyone, I'm making a text-only version here. Feel free to use and redistribute as you will!
This entire zine is made in cut-and-paste collage. I have taken the liberty of fixing a few typos, but otherwise have changed nothing. Any notes of my own making are written as “Transcriber’s Note” in parentheses.
Title: Mapping our Madness: A workbook for navigating crisis, extreme states, or just foul moods
Cover Image: An old, medieval astronomical diagram showing the heavenly spheres, with Earth the center of the universe.
(Transcriber’s Note: The creator is not stated, but this book comes from Back Pocket Zines.)
Intro
This is a participatory workbook zine which is a pretty exciting idea for me. It’s [sic] purpose is to help you map, plan, and navigate crisis, madness or maybe just a foul mood. You can use this as a template and fill it out, or you could make your very own. I know this format doesn’t exactly work for everyone, so I hope that in the very least, it inspires you to make something else great for yourself. I also recognize that maybe all of the pages in here aren’t applicable to everyone. I encourage everyone who reads this to augment it in any way that works best for them. Cut out pages, glue over other pages, burn it and make something new! Rip out this intro once you know what it says. This is about your voice, not mine.
The idea, basically, is to have something to keep near you, so if you’re in a crisis situation, or experiencing some really intense emotions, you’ll have all the tools to take care of yourself, be taken care of by folks who can support you, right there in front of you. Within my experience, when I get into really intensely emotional states, it’s hard for me to think. Especially about my needs. And it’s near impossible to express that to the people around me.
This project was inspired by all the tools and resources I’ve gained from my wonderful friends doing really awesome work within radical mental health collectives everywhere. I’m also doing this because I would never have made something like this if it were just for myself, but I am way more likely to follow through with something if it can benefit folks besides me as well (so, I hope this helps you, because it helped me to make it for you!)
I want to note that this zine is working within a particular political framework, a framework that recognizes systematic oppression and acknowledges that the way we experience ourselves and our realities is inextricably entangled in the world around us. In other words, many of us cannot divorce ourselves from what surrounds us (the systems that connect us, or pit us against one another, that tell us what we should be, or coerce us into submission) and isolate the ways we feel to label ourselves as “sic”. We openly challenge institutions that diagnose us as “mentally ill” with the simple notion that perhaps we are not so crazy for being affected by a world that is so fucked up. We also challenge the idea that the ways we experience the world are “wrong”, and that we are “sick or “broken”; that we are something that needs to be corrected, that we must undergo treatment in order to be “normal.” Rather, we see our experiences as something empowering. Something that needs to be held close to our hearts and understood so that we may liberate ourselves and the world around us.
This is an effort in hopes of imagining a world where everyone recognizes and supports the different ways that all of our minds and bodies may function. Where we have the time and the space to look into ourselves and discover our identities without fear of judgment for what we come up with. This zine hopes for a re-envisioning of mutual support within our communities, how we could listen to and take care of each other in a way that is truly transformative.
Suggestions
You know yourself best, but I have a few suggestions for filling this out. You can take them or leave them:
• Fill it out when you’re in a good mood (whatever that means for you). I know that sometimes when you’re feeling good, it’s hard to think about the possibility of crisis or feeling bad again and it’s easier to just stay feeling good than it is to plan ahead in case you don’t feel so good sometimes in the future.
• Leave space for more. There’s a lot to think about in here and you’ll be constantly growing and learning more about yourself and finding more tools that help you. I’ll leave some blank pages in the back too so you can make your own pages.
• Some of these things can be hard to think about or write down. And maybe some of these things you haven’t thought much about before. Try filling some of this out with a close friend. Put your brains together to envision mutual support! This doesn’t mean that it’s a bad idea to spend some time working on this alone.
(On some pages there may be more specific suggestions in parentheses but those are just suggestions or prompts to get you thinking.)
Contents
Intro
Suggestions
Daily Things to Take Care of Myself
Signs of Oncoming Crisis or Extreme State
Triggers
Immediate Needs in Crisis Situation
What My Friends Can Do
People I Can Talk to/Be With
Safe Places/Spaces
Things That Make Me Laugh
Easy Food a Friend or I Could Make
Here are Some Nouns to Avoid
Activities That Make Me Feel Better
Note To Self
___________
___________
___________
Resources
Daily Things to Take Care of Myself
(This can be things like exercising daily, to tinctures, herbal supplements, vitamins, and medications that you may want to take regularly)
[Blank Page]
Signs of Oncoming Crisis or Extreme State
(Sometimes these things look like not eating or sleeping and becoming less social. It could also be the total opposite. It could be things like feeling as if you’re feeling way too much to handle, or it could be that you feel numb. You could also include ways to recognize if you may be triggered. Again, you know yourself best.)
[Blank Page]
Triggers
(A Trigger is something that can set off a flashback, or re-living of past trauma. It could be anything from sights and smells, to something someone says or how they act, to a place, etc. If you don’t identify as a survivor of trauma, this could also double as a page of things that set off intense emotions or states.)
[Note from Transcriber: triggers are not trauma-exclusive. They can also set off substance use, eating disorder behaviors, or other issues. For instance, if you’re trying to stay sober and feel cravings to drink every time you walk by a liquor store, that’s a trigger.]
[Blank page]
My Immediate Needs
(What are your immediate needs in a crisis situation, extreme state, or when you’re feeling triggered? This could be things like moving to a safer space, being away from people, sleep, food, etc.)
[Blank page]
What can my friends do when I’m experiencing crisis, in an extreme state, or feeling triggered?
(This could also be a prompt that you can write up elsewhere and send to your friends. Make sure you have their consent first! You could also include some of the recognizable signs of oncoming crisis from page 6 or what you may look like when you’re triggered or in an extreme state)
[Blank page]
People I Can Talk To, Or Would Like to Be Around
(This can include names and contact information. You may want to check in with these people before filling this out, as well as regularly, to make sure they are able and willing to support you.)
[Blank page]
Easy Food A Friend or I Could Make
(This can include recipes and favorite foods you’re more likely to eat if you’re having a hard time eating. It can also include dietary preferences, restrictions, or allergies)
[Blank page]
Here Are Some Nouns I’d Like to Avoid
(This could be things you do to deal with pain that YOU deem unhealthy, as well as people and places you may not want to be around. These things could possibly look like: substance abuse, harmful habits, self mutilations, foods that make you feel gross, music that makes you sad, etc.)
[Blank page]
Activities That Help Me Feel Better
(This could be anything! Writing, painting, riding bikes, screaming, dancing, making music, cooking, cuddling, etc.)
[Blank page]
Note to Self
(This is a page to write a note to yourself when you’re feeling alright. It can be about how great you are, the things that you care about and that care about you, or a reminder that you won’t be feeling the way you are forever. Send yourself some love!)
[Two blank pages]
________
(A blank page for you to fill in. This could be spill-over from another page, or something completely different.)
[Three blank pages]
Resources
[Transcriber’s Note: All resources checked as of 1/31/2019.]
• Emotional First Aid: http://www.vanissar.com/blog/emotional-first-aid-for-the-holidays-or-anytime/
• The Icarus Project: “The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of ‘mental illness’ rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework.” Hella resources (zines, forums, etc) here: https://theicarusproject.net/
• Learning to Love You More: “Assignments” or activities to keep you busy and loving yourself. http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/index.php
• Self-Care Tips: https://youarenotyou.tumblr.com/6946080609/epic-self-care-post [Transcriber’s Note: this post no longer exists and I can’t find archives of it anywhere. Sorry.]
• Suicide Hotline: You can find a suicide hotline in your state here: http://suicidehotlines.com/ (the website looks hella cheesy, I know)
• [Blank]
• [Blank]
Envelope
Glue an envelope here to keep things that make you smile: letters from friends, pictures, comics, CDs, etc.
Hey guys! I dug up this zine at a garage sale, Mapping Our Madness: A workbook for navigating crisis, extreme states, or just foul moods. It's... er, exactly what it sounds like. Kinda a beefed-up version of the tiny self-help one-pagers I do. Covers things from self-care, triggers, things to do when you're in a bad state, and things that the folks around you might need to know.
No name or organization is listed as creator, but I tracked it down online as coming from Back Pocket Zines! You can buy/trade/nab a copy of them through that wordpress there, or alternately download a PDF here and then print it out. (Note: the pages are in PRINT order, not read order! This is very much NOT a book that works in digital read-only form.) The book definitely comes from the sort of political standpoint of groups like the Icarus Project, so if that's not your thing, pass it by.
I thought the zine would be of interest to the folks here, but the zine, while beautiful, is totally inaccessible as far as screen-readers go, from what I can tell. So for the benefit of everyone, I'm making a text-only version here. Feel free to use and redistribute as you will!
This entire zine is made in cut-and-paste collage. I have taken the liberty of fixing a few typos, but otherwise have changed nothing. Any notes of my own making are written as “Transcriber’s Note” in parentheses.
Title: Mapping our Madness: A workbook for navigating crisis, extreme states, or just foul moods
Cover Image: An old, medieval astronomical diagram showing the heavenly spheres, with Earth the center of the universe.
(Transcriber’s Note: The creator is not stated, but this book comes from Back Pocket Zines.)
Intro
This is a participatory workbook zine which is a pretty exciting idea for me. It’s [sic] purpose is to help you map, plan, and navigate crisis, madness or maybe just a foul mood. You can use this as a template and fill it out, or you could make your very own. I know this format doesn’t exactly work for everyone, so I hope that in the very least, it inspires you to make something else great for yourself. I also recognize that maybe all of the pages in here aren’t applicable to everyone. I encourage everyone who reads this to augment it in any way that works best for them. Cut out pages, glue over other pages, burn it and make something new! Rip out this intro once you know what it says. This is about your voice, not mine.
The idea, basically, is to have something to keep near you, so if you’re in a crisis situation, or experiencing some really intense emotions, you’ll have all the tools to take care of yourself, be taken care of by folks who can support you, right there in front of you. Within my experience, when I get into really intensely emotional states, it’s hard for me to think. Especially about my needs. And it’s near impossible to express that to the people around me.
This project was inspired by all the tools and resources I’ve gained from my wonderful friends doing really awesome work within radical mental health collectives everywhere. I’m also doing this because I would never have made something like this if it were just for myself, but I am way more likely to follow through with something if it can benefit folks besides me as well (so, I hope this helps you, because it helped me to make it for you!)
I want to note that this zine is working within a particular political framework, a framework that recognizes systematic oppression and acknowledges that the way we experience ourselves and our realities is inextricably entangled in the world around us. In other words, many of us cannot divorce ourselves from what surrounds us (the systems that connect us, or pit us against one another, that tell us what we should be, or coerce us into submission) and isolate the ways we feel to label ourselves as “sic”. We openly challenge institutions that diagnose us as “mentally ill” with the simple notion that perhaps we are not so crazy for being affected by a world that is so fucked up. We also challenge the idea that the ways we experience the world are “wrong”, and that we are “sick or “broken”; that we are something that needs to be corrected, that we must undergo treatment in order to be “normal.” Rather, we see our experiences as something empowering. Something that needs to be held close to our hearts and understood so that we may liberate ourselves and the world around us.
This is an effort in hopes of imagining a world where everyone recognizes and supports the different ways that all of our minds and bodies may function. Where we have the time and the space to look into ourselves and discover our identities without fear of judgment for what we come up with. This zine hopes for a re-envisioning of mutual support within our communities, how we could listen to and take care of each other in a way that is truly transformative.
Suggestions
You know yourself best, but I have a few suggestions for filling this out. You can take them or leave them:
• Fill it out when you’re in a good mood (whatever that means for you). I know that sometimes when you’re feeling good, it’s hard to think about the possibility of crisis or feeling bad again and it’s easier to just stay feeling good than it is to plan ahead in case you don’t feel so good sometimes in the future.
• Leave space for more. There’s a lot to think about in here and you’ll be constantly growing and learning more about yourself and finding more tools that help you. I’ll leave some blank pages in the back too so you can make your own pages.
• Some of these things can be hard to think about or write down. And maybe some of these things you haven’t thought much about before. Try filling some of this out with a close friend. Put your brains together to envision mutual support! This doesn’t mean that it’s a bad idea to spend some time working on this alone.
(On some pages there may be more specific suggestions in parentheses but those are just suggestions or prompts to get you thinking.)
Contents
Intro
Suggestions
Daily Things to Take Care of Myself
Signs of Oncoming Crisis or Extreme State
Triggers
Immediate Needs in Crisis Situation
What My Friends Can Do
People I Can Talk to/Be With
Safe Places/Spaces
Things That Make Me Laugh
Easy Food a Friend or I Could Make
Here are Some Nouns to Avoid
Activities That Make Me Feel Better
Note To Self
___________
___________
___________
Resources
Daily Things to Take Care of Myself
(This can be things like exercising daily, to tinctures, herbal supplements, vitamins, and medications that you may want to take regularly)
[Blank Page]
Signs of Oncoming Crisis or Extreme State
(Sometimes these things look like not eating or sleeping and becoming less social. It could also be the total opposite. It could be things like feeling as if you’re feeling way too much to handle, or it could be that you feel numb. You could also include ways to recognize if you may be triggered. Again, you know yourself best.)
[Blank Page]
Triggers
(A Trigger is something that can set off a flashback, or re-living of past trauma. It could be anything from sights and smells, to something someone says or how they act, to a place, etc. If you don’t identify as a survivor of trauma, this could also double as a page of things that set off intense emotions or states.)
[Note from Transcriber: triggers are not trauma-exclusive. They can also set off substance use, eating disorder behaviors, or other issues. For instance, if you’re trying to stay sober and feel cravings to drink every time you walk by a liquor store, that’s a trigger.]
[Blank page]
My Immediate Needs
(What are your immediate needs in a crisis situation, extreme state, or when you’re feeling triggered? This could be things like moving to a safer space, being away from people, sleep, food, etc.)
[Blank page]
What can my friends do when I’m experiencing crisis, in an extreme state, or feeling triggered?
(This could also be a prompt that you can write up elsewhere and send to your friends. Make sure you have their consent first! You could also include some of the recognizable signs of oncoming crisis from page 6 or what you may look like when you’re triggered or in an extreme state)
[Blank page]
People I Can Talk To, Or Would Like to Be Around
(This can include names and contact information. You may want to check in with these people before filling this out, as well as regularly, to make sure they are able and willing to support you.)
[Blank page]
Easy Food A Friend or I Could Make
(This can include recipes and favorite foods you’re more likely to eat if you’re having a hard time eating. It can also include dietary preferences, restrictions, or allergies)
[Blank page]
Here Are Some Nouns I’d Like to Avoid
(This could be things you do to deal with pain that YOU deem unhealthy, as well as people and places you may not want to be around. These things could possibly look like: substance abuse, harmful habits, self mutilations, foods that make you feel gross, music that makes you sad, etc.)
[Blank page]
Activities That Help Me Feel Better
(This could be anything! Writing, painting, riding bikes, screaming, dancing, making music, cooking, cuddling, etc.)
[Blank page]
Note to Self
(This is a page to write a note to yourself when you’re feeling alright. It can be about how great you are, the things that you care about and that care about you, or a reminder that you won’t be feeling the way you are forever. Send yourself some love!)
[Two blank pages]
________
(A blank page for you to fill in. This could be spill-over from another page, or something completely different.)
[Three blank pages]
Resources
[Transcriber’s Note: All resources checked as of 1/31/2019.]
• Emotional First Aid: http://www.vanissar.com/blog/emotional-first-aid-for-the-holidays-or-anytime/
• The Icarus Project: “The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of ‘mental illness’ rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework.” Hella resources (zines, forums, etc) here: https://theicarusproject.net/
• Learning to Love You More: “Assignments” or activities to keep you busy and loving yourself. http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/index.php
• Self-Care Tips: https://youarenotyou.tumblr.com/6946080609/epic-self-care-post [Transcriber’s Note: this post no longer exists and I can’t find archives of it anywhere. Sorry.]
• Suicide Hotline: You can find a suicide hotline in your state here: http://suicidehotlines.com/ (the website looks hella cheesy, I know)
• [Blank]
• [Blank]
Envelope
Glue an envelope here to keep things that make you smile: letters from friends, pictures, comics, CDs, etc.
