Ruby Elliot was 14-years-old when she was diagnosed with anorexia. Then came the depression, bulimia and bi-polar.
She loved drawing as a young child – emulating the humour of The Beano and The Simpsons – but she found art lessons too prescriptive and fell out of love with it in secondary school.
But when she dropped out of school aged 17 after a particularly intense bout of depression, she started blogging to ease her sense of isolation and once again reached for her sketchbook and pen. She filled her webpage with sparse and darkly witty illustrations depicting her struggle with mental illness. Difficult topics range from finding the right therapist, to taking mood stabilisers and the negative attitudes of others.
Now aged 22, Elliot and her cartoons have amassed over 68,000 followers on Instagram. She recently released her first book: It’s All Absolutely Fine.
The Independent spoke to Elliot about art as catharsis, and having the power to change how people views of mental health.

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