a man bangs on drums full of pills

Hardcore Anxiety: A Graphic Guide to Punk Rock and Mental Health

by Reid Chancellor Author

Punk rock and mental health have been intertwined since the very beginning. Nervous breakdowns, anxiety, seeking acceptance, attempting to overcome internalized demons, and reacting to harmful and oppressive systems—punk rock embodies and emboldens all our feelings and experiences, positive and negative. Hardcore Anxiety charts and tracks punk movements from the 70s till today, from small towns to stadiums, from the struggles in our heads to the people actively harming us in our communities. Told from the point of view of a young man discovering punk and working through mental illness in Evansville, Indiana, this stunning nonfiction graphic novel gives punks the most important advice of all: "You aren't alone. You're going to make it through alive."

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Features stories of bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, the Circle Jerks, Against Me!, Green Day, the Replacements, Husker Du, and Jawbreaker.

 

Comments & Reviews

12/16/2019

"As well as giving an open and fascinating insight into his own life experience through punk and hard-core; throughout Hardcore Anxiety, Reid eloquently and briefly summarises the fascinating wider impact of punk and hard-core – especially on mental health."

Read more here: https://www.xsnoize.com/book-review-hardcore-anxiety-a-graphic-guide-to-punk-rock-and-mental-health-by-reid-chancellor/

11/7/2019

“Reid Chancellor’s book is an eye-catching nonfiction graphic novel told from the point of view of a young man discovering punk and working through mental illness 
in America’s Midwest, Evansville, IN. It gives punks the most important advice of all: “You aren’t alone. You’re going to make it through alive.”

9/11/2019

A throwback to alternative comics of the 1990s, this self-conscious autobiographical narrative positions Chancellor’s depression as a lens to examine how punk rock bands used their music to express their own members’ mental health struggles.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-62106-767-2

9/11/2019

"I recommend this book to anyone who cares about punk rock and hardcore history OR to people interested in mental health issues. The weaving of those two subjects makes this work unique and a must read."


https://youtu.be/SyjIbZarRrw