As part of the European Breaking Taboos about mental health project, Les Apprimeurs is running a series of workshops called Des bulles dans ta tête (Bubbles in your head). The aim of these workshops is to deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices relating to mental health, by becoming co-designer of an interactive digital comic strip.
On Saturday 1 June 2024, Julie Guilleminot, President of Les Apprimeurs, ran a one-day session alongside Solène Rousseau, a MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) trainer at Cercle J in Rosny-sous-Bois. Welcomed by Mina Mathieu, clinical psychologist and head of youth at Cercle J Arthur Rimbaud, and Quentin Fevre, project manager at the Youth Information Centre, eight young people aged 16 to 25 took part in the day-long session.
A morning devoted to raising young people’s awareness of mental health issues.
After recalling the purpose of the workshop and introducing themselves in turn, the participants attended the first workshop, entitled ‘Myths and realities about mental health’. The aim was to identify existing preconceptions, understand how our perception can be influenced and find out the ‘official’ definition of mental health. Participants were given, in pairs, a comic strip produced as part of the Breaking Taboos project. They were asked to give the comic strip a title so that they could identify the myth or stereotype at work in the scenario, and to identify what response they would make in the character’s place, given the situation in which he found himself.
The second workshop was devoted to the various existing disorders and their definitions. In the same way as before, participants were given a comic strip to which they gave a title. They then identified which stereotype might be linked to the type of disorder identified in the comic strip and the definition they would give.
The aim of the third workshop, ‘SMS / How to help’, was to clearly identify the main problems and the most appropriate response. Participants were simply confronted with a short, fictitious text message conversation prepared in advance, to which they gave a title and the most appropriate response.
A comic strip creation session
Throughout the afternoon, the young people had the opportunity to design their own digital comic strip based on scenarios they were free to imagine.
Jessy and Jimmy, who took part in this workshop, decided to write a screenplay on the theme of other people’s opinions and the consequences of making judgements about a person’s appearance. A second pair chose to tackle the theme of alcohol. A third comic called ‘Rendez-vous manqué’ (Missed appointment) deals with how to react to someone who isolates themselves in an unusual way. Finally, the last two comics deal with the relationship with the body and the ill-being that a person can suffer, linked to their physical appearance as well as the consequences for their mental state.
After writing the script on paper, the participants were able to format and illustrate the comic strips on computer so that they could then be made available online, on the Breaking Taboos about mental health project website as well as on the Des bulles dans ta tête website.
Successful comic strip exhibition at Cercle J
The participants at the Point Ecoute Jeune really enjoyed the Des bulles dans ta tête workshop, particularly the sharing of ideas, the creative process, thinking about the message to be conveyed by the comic strip and explaining it to others afterwards.
A few weeks after the workshop, Cercle J organised a ‘FEED – Forum Échange Écoute Découverte – spécial santé’ evening, in the presence of local partners, during which the various comic strips produced were exhibited to the public.
To find out more about the European Breaking Taboos about mental health project, click here
To find out more about the Des bulles dans ta tête (Bubbles in your head) workshops, click here
