Enjoy these art pieces made by members of the AT Parenting Community ❤️
She calls her anxiety Ping-Pong (because we’ve used the analogy that feeling overwhelmed from anxiety is like a bunch of ping-pong balls bouncing around in your brain). This shows Ping-Pong trying to attack some of her happy thoughts (the stars and things), but she is smacking it away.
-12 years old
It’s a mission planning board for what she’s deemed “Operation Pocket Train” – shrinking her “train” (her name for her OCD) to be pocket-sized so she can tuck it away rather than staying big enough to push her around! It includes a reminder that it takes time, so she needs to be patient with herself, as well as some of the things that help her get stronger.
-10 years old
I think that the saying behind this picture is that there is always light in the dark. I have portrayed myself in the painting were my hair is glowing which resembles the light in my body of darkness. The moon in the painting is the light in the dark for the world around me. The big monster around the globe is how I see OCD. But those little lights can grow bigger and bigger every day. Ps my OCD monster is called Gherkin. PPs exposures are like a little flames, every day the flames gets bigger until all that’s left of ocd is a tiny grain of sand.
-Isaac, 12 years old
OCD is like a light switch. Once the condition is triggered, it can never be switched off. But it can be dimmed.
My therapist used that analogy once and it has always stuck with me. This piece demonstrates that: breaking the light switch and connecting a dimmer.
It takes time and tears and effort, but brains can be re-wired.
-Anna
“The six chambers of my heart” is a contemporary artist book that expresses my hope and distress, love and joy, all in six pages.
I designed this book for my school art assignment this term and I think it has become one of my favorites.
The heart that you see occurring on each page is an etching that represents quite literally my own heart. The page that goes with it expresses a part of my heart and in extension, a feature of my being.
You will also notice that the words “What if” appear on each page. This is the representation of my OCD, and the frequency in which I get these “What ifs” throughout my day to day life. In each part of my heart, it will always bee there. You may notice though, that the size and manner of the words changes according to the page. For example, page 3, which represents my suicidal ideations and loss of hope, the “What if” is very dark, bold and big. This symbolizes how when I have experienced a long period of obsessional thinking and criticism, I turn to suicide and the thought of it. In contrast, page 6 involves a lioness, representing my mum and how fierce she can be against any hurt that could come to me, including my OCD. The words are small and unsure, representing how much it helps to have mum by my side when my OCD is flaring up. She gives me solid hope and love, which cools down my OCD, hence the smaller words. There is a lot of symbolism behind each of these pages, and I invite you to interpret them as you like. Thank you for considering my artwork for the competition!
-LH, 15 years old
It is called PEACE: freedom from OCD AND anxiety.
-IH
My entry is of our dog Lexi. We got Lexi as a rescue puppy 4 and half years ago after she was abandoned on the side of a road. Because of that Lexi does have some issues! She’s very anxious and her behaviour can be challenging at times but we all love her so much. Our daughter in particular has a very strong bond with Lexi and often turns to her for comfort in times of distress. Lexi is always there at home waiting for her with absolute trust, zero judgement and unwavering love which has helped our daughter in the darkest of times.
-JH
Intrusive thoughts.
-TB, 15 years old
My daughter, now 17, drew this when she was a freshman to express her feelings of dealing with OCD, anxiety and what we were learning was ASD too.