Mental Health Superhero

Before she was hospitalized, Naomi didn’t think that she was depressed. Like many people, she thought of depression as an intense version of sadness. But her doctors told her that someone who is depressed might not feel sad so much as hopeless. They might lose interest in daily activities. They might not feel much at all. 

When the doctors described depression that way, Naomi felt a sense of recognition. “I was like, that’s what I’ve been experiencing for a while,” she says. 

After spending several weeks at the hospital, Naomi went back to school. The adjustment was difficult. On some days, it was a struggle to simply get out of bed. 

Naomi ended up returning to the hospital. She learned that people are not instantly “cured” of depression. It is condition that many people learn to manage with a variety of treatments, including therapy and medication. 

Talking to trusted adults has been an important part of Naomi’s mental health journey. She started seeing a therapist in high school. 

Getting regular exercise and spending time outdoors also help. “Physical activity won’t automatically cure your depression,” she says. “But it does make things feel a little bit better.”

Several years after Naomi was hospitalized for depression, her dad, Ethan, asked if she’d be willing to share her story with others. Ethan has written many Marvel comic books. He had an idea for a comic about a teen with supernatural powers who battles depression. The main character would be based on Naomi. Naomi thought it was the perfect way to help others going through a similar experience.

Naomi and Ethan worked on their comic book for more than a year. They wrote a script and worked with an illustrator to create pictures to bring the story to life. They also worked with mental health professionals to ensure that the information was accurate and that the story was told in a safe manner.

The title of the comic book, A Haunted Girl, has a double meaning. The main character, Cleo, feels haunted by depression. She’s also haunted by the knowledge that she has supernatural powers that she must use to save the world. Without giving too much away—spoiler alert!—there is a happy ending for Cleo. 

“It’s not like Cleo stops being depressed,” Naomi says. “She still has to do everything she’s been doing to take care of herself, but little by little, she grows around the problem.” 

One of the things Cleo does to navigate her depression is talk to Marcy, her therapist. Naomi wanted to make sure her book contained a positive representation of therapy, in part to encourage her readers to seek professional help. “I wanted to show that therapists can be funny and warm,” she says.

Now that the first installment of A Haunted Girl has been published, Naomi is amazed at how far she has come over the years since her diagnosis. “There was a time when even finishing high school was a struggle,” she says. “So I could never have imagined that I’d write a book or be in college!” 

She hopes that her comic will appeal to all readers, but especially anyone with mental health issues. “The reader I’m imagining could be someone who was recently hospitalized, someone currently in the hospital, or someone who’s never been hospitalized but is struggling,” Naomi says. “It sounds like a cliché, but I want them to know it does get better.”