The Shrink Rap Press booksThe Secret Problem, The School Wobblies and Full of Beans. By C. Wever. Australia: The Shrink Rap Press. 1999. (Australian)$15 (pb). ISBNs: 0-646-22063-0, 0-646-22064-0 and 0-9585604-0-4, respectively. Too Blue: A Book About Depression and The Panic Book. By N. Phillips. Australia: The Shrink Rap Press. 1999. (Australian)$15 (pb). ISBNs: 0-9585604-1-2 and 0-9585604-2-0, respectively.

The Secret Problem, The School Wobblies and Full of Beans, written and illustrated by a psychiatrist, aim to explain common mental health problems to children. All three are clear and sympathetic, with judicious use of wry humour and the kinds of drawings commonly seen in children's literature. Full of Beans, for example, clarifies better than a psychiatrist ever could that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have strengths as well as problems and that medication and routine may be a pain, but will help in the end. Both The Secret Problem — about obsessive—compulsive disorder — and The School Wobblies — about school refusal — use characters that allow the child to externalise and ‘talk back’ to the problem. My co-reviewer, wee Hannah from next door (aged 10), found the drawings “a bit weird” and the Wobblies rather scary, but thought the book would help a nervous child get to school. She had some difficulties with understanding the text and we agreed that having an adult read the book aloud might help both parents and children.,

Too Blue: A Book About Depression is aimed at adults and features a character called ‘Major Depression’, who can disguise himself as ‘Captain Mania’. Unfortunately, I suspect an adult with an affective disorder might feel patronised. Cartoons can clarify concepts where words fail, but the downside is that we tend to see them as rather light-hearted and superficial. It would take exceptional skill, therefore, to portray depression using cartoons without trivialising in a way people with depression might find insulting. Books such a MAUS by Art Speigelman have shown that cartoons can portray a desolate mood, but True Blue fails to achieve this.

The Panic Book, however, works well as a resource for both adults with panic disorders and their families. Panic can be a difficult concept to explain, yet understanding is almost a cure in itself and this book gives a crystal clear description in both words and pictures of a complex process.

On the whole, the informal but clear style of the Shrink Rap Press books will be an excellent resource for sufferers and their families. Pictures speak louder than words.