"TOXIC SUPPORT"
DEPRESSION AWARENESS POSTERS
Roles:
Author/ Illustrator/ Designer - Yuliya Osyka.
Editor/ Consultant - Anastasia Plokhikh, psychologist, gestalt therapist.
About the project
“Toxic Support” is a self-initiated social project, consisting of 12 illustrated posters dedicated to revealing the toxicity of phrases said to someone with depression.
These posters were created for 2 types of people:
1. People in depression, whose loved-ones use such toxic phrases.
2. The loved-ones of someone with depression. There’s often either lack of understanding on the nature of depression, or people don't know what to say and how to show support, or, when with someone in depression, they encounter strong emotions like sadness, irritation, fear, guilt and even anger and are unable to overcome these feelings therefore use some of the toxic phrases to protect themselves from these feelings.
In either scenario the posters are not meant to blame and accuse, but rather to simply show the toxicity of particular phrases and, hopefully, help understand that such "support" is not healthy, moreover, it's not support at all. Depression is a complex and serious illness. To even try to understand it one needs time and information.
My hope is that these posters make visible that which is often overlooked, provide a glimpse into the reality of depression and help support those suffering from the illness.
The Posters were made in two languages: English and Ukrainian.
In The US Anxiety and Depression Association of America kindly agreed to become the resource for this initiative. A post for ADAA website and Instagram
In Ukraine I partnered with Development Foundation to facilitate the spread of awareness about depression, and the foundation has been creating an additional layer of informing the public via social media sharing their psychology specialists’ advice in addition to the posters .
Interview for Voice of America in Ukrainian
Interview for Current Time in Ukrainian translated to Russian
Honorable Mention in 3x3 Annual #18. Professional Show. Posters
English Version:
Ukrainian Version:
