Artist Perfectly Conveys Common Mental Illnesses Through Incredibly Haunting Illustrations

Mental illness has existed since the dawn of time, but has long been hidden under veils of secrecy and shame. Only in the last fives or so years has it come to forefront of conversation in both the media and our day to day lives.

Depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and other illnesses which were long kept extremely quiet are now more openly accepted and discussed. Television commercials, social-media campaigns and even prominent athletes are now opening a wide discourse surround illnesses which once carried a very severe stigma.

Unfortunately, those who haven't been touched by mental illness (particularly older individuals) can sometimes have a difficult time sympathising which those who suffer, and this is mainly down to the fact that for the most part, mental illness is 'invisible'. It doesn't present the way a tangible illness or injury might.

Artist Shawn Coss is lifting the invisibility from common mental illnesses and giving viewers a window into what some of these disorders CAN look and feel like. Coss has done similar with phobias, and has over 190,000 followers on Instagram.

Keep scrolling to see his haunting mental illness series.