SUDBURY -- A new locally-produced book is hoping to challenge mental health stigmas by drawing attention to the simple power of one’s vocabulary.
‘The Dictionary of Madness’ was produced by the Northern Initiative for Social Action, which works to provide a safe space for people with mental health challenges. The book is filled with made up words and expressions related to mental health experiences that can cause pain.
“Madness is a word that a lot of people use to reclaim the language used to stigmatize mental health,” said Ella Jane Meyers, the project’s editor. “So the whole idea is that we are reclaiming words that have been used in a hurtful way and making them our own.”
The idea first came to Meyers about one year ago,as a great way to spread awareness on the power of words, when it comes to those with mental health challenges. While she was unsure if she would be able to make the book a reality, a grant from the city made it possible.
“We apply usually once a year to municipal arts grant programming through the city of Sudbury,” said Audrey O’Brien, communications and strategy coordinator for NISA. “It was that time of year to make an application again, usually something to do with creative expression or creative arts, and we decided to put in an application for this book project.”
Meyers, who also works as the editor and publisher of Open Minds Quarterly, a publication featuring stories of those with mental health challenges, often holds writing workshops at NISA. With the funding in place, she began holding additional workshops strictly dedicated to ‘The Dictionary of Madness.’
“We had these workshops, where we talked about what some of these hurtful words were, but also what are some of the words we use to describe our experiences,” said Meyers. “Then we talked about literary things like prefixes, suffixes, gibberish, compound words and we applied those to the words used about our experience to reclaim them, take away the hurt and play with them.”
The entire book is produced locally, with all of its content, including illustrations, done through NISA’s staff and these workshops.
Meyers says a few words stick out for her.
“One of my favourites is sobisfaction, which means the satisfaction of a really good cry. We cry a lot here at NISA, which is totally fine,” said Meyers.
With the book quickly coming together, a look at the calendar showed Meyers and the rest of the NISA team, that a launch around Bell Let’s Talk Day was a perfect fit.
O’Brien says she is thankful that the funding came through to make the project possible.
“It really sheds lights on people’s personal experiences with mental health,” said O’Brien. “When you look through the book, there are some playful descriptors. There are some serious, mindful descriptors. It’s a really honest portrayal of people’s experiences and that I think part of what this day is about, is making positive action and conversation around mental health and we hope this is a really authentic way for people to be able to talk about their experiences.”
Meyers is hopeful that, along with many other projects happening on Bell Let’s Talk Day, that the book starts a conversation and helps to end the stigmas surrounding mental health.
“I hope it makes people smile. I hope it makes people laugh a little, and in that, through humour, opens the door to conversations about mental health that maybe go beyond just what is it and reflect the diversity of experiences that people have. Because no two experiences are alike, but through some of these words and shared experiences you can find commonalities and relate to other people,” said Meyers.
