Why we created the mental health comic

When the COVID 19 pandemic struck us in March 2020, the Dekko Team had been at the drawing board trying to come up with some new ideas for creating new Dekko material…it’s what we do!

We weren’t quite ready to begin producing regular monthly comics again, but I had a creative itch that really needed to be scratched.

At one of our virtual team meetings, some of our team members were discussing the impact that the lockdown was having on their children. Mostly they observed their children’s wonderful resilience, but as parents they were worried about what effect this unprecedented situation would have on them in the long term. 

This got us thinking about what Dekko do best! That is, to turn complex information into fun easy to understand comic stories for children of all ages.

Being dyslexic myself, I know it can be difficult to process the anxiety that comes with being neurodiverse. A lot of the coping strategies that people use to help manage their neurodiversity, such as meeting in social groups, were not available during lockdown so I wanted to create something that could get this complex Mental Health information across in a fun and entertaining way.

Lots of the Dekko characters returned in this issue to help bring the stories to life. The Dekko Kids are there to demonstrate the importance of rest. Timbot and Crowball break down anxiety. Basil and Ernie talk about processing emotions and other stories cover gratitude, self-regulation, emotions and self-awareness. The comic also includes posters that can be printed out from the website and put up in bedrooms and classrooms as graphic reminders. I really hope you find it useful in helping children talk about and understand their mental health. We’ve since added to our mental health resources so be sure to check out the dedicated mental health page here.

Rossie.