Here I Am, I Am Me: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health

“an exceptionally well-written, illustrated guide to understanding and improving mental health for tweens, teens, and young adults.”

We owe cartoonist and author Cara Bean a hearty, “Thank you!” for writing a book about teen mental health that is readable and relatable for young people. Here I Am, I Am Me: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health is a perceptive volume that provides understanding of the adolescent brain and compassion for growing teens’ sometimes difficult mental health.

Here I Am, I Am Me is an illustrated guide to the most common mental health concerns facing young people. Bean is an art teacher who draws comics and is in her element with this book. The cartoonist creates characters that are relatable in drawings that are clear and compelling. Her use of illustration provides excellent context for the content.

The book is broken down into nine chapters and includes a brief glossary of terms. The chapters dive into the most important mental health issues facing teens today, including: substance use, how your friend group makes you feel, the power of breathing, the importance of sleep, and crisis resources. If you are looking for information on general mental health for teens, this book is a great starting point.

Rather than focusing on mental health concerns as problems, the author describes these issues as common experiences—which they are—then shifts focus to ways to address them. The book excels at being descriptive instead of pathologizing. The pages are filled with practical, accessible solutions teens can implement. Topics include everything for anxiety, grief, and depression to identifying an overdose, helping a friend in crisis, and what to expect from therapy.

The book is engaging. Most of the stories are one page, though a handful are longer. Yet like a traditional comic strip, one story or page is related to the next, creating flow, developing themes, and ultimately the important message that improving mental health is possible with simple tools. This merging of textbook with illustrations is an outstanding way to present the material. It can be taken in small doses and assimilated before moving to the next section.

Bean has done her research. She pays a great deal of attention to brain development, bringing each issue back to how that aspect of mental health plays out in or is affected by the brain, its growth and function. How does stress affect the brain? What happens to a sleep deprived brain? These are just some of the issues addressed.

An unexpected point of connection between author and reader found throughout the book are the sections called, “A Bean Memory.” On these pages, the author describes her personal experience with the subject matter. For example, in the substance use and addiction section, Bean talks about losing her cousin to accidental overdose and the impact that had on her family, and the families and communities that have a similar experience.

If a criticism can be made of the book, it’s that it would benefit from a larger format. The font is quite small, which might be satisfactory for teenage eyes, but some parents may need to pull out their reading glasses to read what’s on the page.

Do not waste a moment getting to the bookstore to get your copy of Cara Bean’s, Here I Am, I Am Here: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health. This book is an exceptionally well-written, illustrated guide to understanding and improving mental health for tweens, teens, and young adults. It’s a thoughtful gift for parents or school counselors. The book should also be considered in curricula for high school teachers or counselor training programs that support adolescents.