I think the way that my zine page is created using a crumpled face mask pattern and decorated with expired pain pills pretty much demonstrates my exhaustion. Weirdly, I wish I was truly exhausted, like the kind of exhausted you are when you hike all day and then fall fast asleep, in a tent on the ground, snuggled into the earth. The foggy exhaustion I’m living in doesn’t feel real because I’ve barely moved from sitting or laying down and I stimulate myself with regular doses of caffeine and sugar. Zines are like mini, self-published creative magazines. I am new to zine making, although from what I’ve seen, many zines include illustration. I’m a millennial, so I feel too exhausted to do any illustration. My apartment building almost burned down, my recent unpaid internship experience was a failure, I’m attempting to earn a graduate degree during a pandemic, and I can no longer participate in my regular in-person group activities for coping, de-stressing, general health, and wellness. As a cohort studying to become mental health professionals, we all have our own stories and stressors, but at the end of the day we’re affected by many of the same energy zapping factors. As a community, we’re all exhausted, but at least we’re exhausted together.
To me, zines offer a direct and brutal, yet wonderful way to express honesty and realness.
In a group for adults with substance related disorders, there’s a lot of realness that the group members can connect about. It could be argued that “one of the most impactful aspects of the zine engagement is the sense of community it imbues” (Leone, 2020, p. 185). Sharing stories and opinions with one another builds group cohesion and helps to form a supportive community. Substance abuse issues are often wrongly stigmatized and pathologized. Often, adults who are addicted to substances are victims of injustice, have high comorbidity, and are just trying to survive. Creating a zine can be an “act of claiming, re-claiming, owning, and/or empowering one’s authentic identity” and can be “emblematic of a sociopolitical activist stance”, especially for this population who's identities as addicts are generally politicized and attacked (Leone, 2020, p. 184). Prioritizing the voices of these survivors by asking them to create zines about what substance use, addiction, and substance related disorders are really like, about their true identity, reading them and sharing them, their difficult past is transformed and can become their greatest strength.
Reference:
Leone, L. (2020). Craft in art therapy: Diverse approaches to the transformative power of craft materials and methods. Routledge
