Gemma Correll's Rollercoaster of Anxiety
A Q+A about the comic illustrator's new book Anxietyland.
Gemma Correll is an illustrator and cartoonist whose work often focuses on anxiety. In 2018, Correll had an anxiety attack that would not end—it lasted for weeks and weeks. Eventually, she ended up in the emergency room, and then an outpatient mental health program in an attempt to deal with her constant panic. That became the basis for her new book-length comic Anxietyland, a graphic memoir about her attempts to conquer the mental health issues that had plagued her ever since she was a child.
Correll was kind enough to speak with me about her anxiety, the uses of art in helping herself and others deal with their mental health, and her two pugs.
[This interview has been edited and condensed]
Where did the idea for a book-length work about anxiety come from?
I’d been making comics for a few years about mental health, based around my own life and experiences, but they’d always been quite short-form. I’d always wanted to make a longer book, but I didn’t have the framework for it. And then I ended up going into hospital for my anxiety, and I realized I had more of a story arc to use at that point, and I finally just had the time to work on it, too.
What was the hospital like for you?
It was outpatient. I went to the emergency department and they referred me to this program, which was five days a week, 9 to 5. I’d never really found effective therapy until that point. I tried various types and nothing had particularly helped for my situation. I ended up going to the hospital because I was having such severe panic attacks. It was just one panic attack sparking another one, and it was just constant. I needed emergency help, and I needed to learn skills—things like CBT and DBT. In hospital, I learned all these different tools, almost like I was in school. And that, combined with medication, and being in a group with other people going through similar things, was really helpful.
Was part of what was helpful just meeting other people who’d gone through similar things to you?