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Headcase: LGBTQ Writers and Artists on Mental Health and Wellness
Headcase is a groundbreaking collection of personal reflections and artistic representations illustrating the intersection of mental wellness, illness, and LGBTQ identity, as well as the lasting impact of historical views equating queer and trans identity with mental illness. The pieces offer personal views from both providers and clients, often one and the same, about their experiences. In the anthology, readers will access the inner thoughts of an array of individuals, including: a therapist with dual status who also happens to be transgender and practicing in the Midwest; a lesbian writer and psychotherapist recounting her mother's experience with forced institutionalization, shock therapy, and "conversion therapy" in the 1950s; a queer illustrator presenting unique glyph illustrations that represent a panoply of identity-related questions and answers; an award-winning gay male writer discussing his struggle with depression publicly for the first time; and a trans activist of color writing about surviving madness in the inner city and how his community of mental health and social justice youth activists help each other thrive. Several contributors also document the difficulty of navigating flawed health care systems that limit affordable access to genuinely affirming, effective services.
Cultural norms and barriers to accessibility have an enormous impact on the quality of care available to LGBTQ communities. Traversing boundaries of race and ethnic identity, age, gender identity, and socioeconomic status, Headcase should appeal to LGBTQ communities and, specifically, LGBTQ mental health consumers and their friends, families, and comrades.
Cultural norms and barriers to accessibility have an enormous impact on the quality of care available to LGBTQ communities. Traversing boundaries of race and ethnic identity, age, gender identity, and socioeconomic status, Headcase should appeal to LGBTQ communities and, specifically, LGBTQ mental health consumers and their friends, families, and comrades.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2019
31 people are currently reading
631 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Schroeder
6 books26 followersStephanie Schroeder is a writer in New York City. She is co-editor of "Headcase: Writers and Artists on Mental Health and Wellness" and author of "Beautiful Wreck: Sex, Lies and Suicide." Her work has been anthologized in the queer classic anthology, "That’s Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation," "Here Come the Brides: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage", "Easy to Love, But Hard to Live With: Real People, Invisible Disabilities, True Stories." and several other collections. Schroeder has written for The Guardian, Curve Magazine, Lambda Literary Review, Brooklyn Magazine, and many other publications. Find out more about Schroeder on her website: http://stephanieschroeder.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 20, 2019
This book may not be for everybody, but I think it's indispensable for a few large groups of people: those who are gay, queer, or trans, those who have close relationship with such a person, and those who deal with these populations in any kind of work or volunteer position: clinical staff of all types, social workers, policy makers, shelter staff, and so forth. That's a lot of people who should read this book!
The editors have recruited authors who speak from a variety of positions. Some essays are pretty academic, some speak from personal experience, and some are poetic or fanciful. Although a lot of sad and infuriating stories appear, I do not find the book repetitive. Each person casts a new perspective on the problems of mental health and LGBTQ issues. The variety of the authors' responses to similar problems of depression, anxiety, social rejection, and so on remind us that each person is unique.
The editors have recruited authors who speak from a variety of positions. Some essays are pretty academic, some speak from personal experience, and some are poetic or fanciful. Although a lot of sad and infuriating stories appear, I do not find the book repetitive. Each person casts a new perspective on the problems of mental health and LGBTQ issues. The variety of the authors' responses to similar problems of depression, anxiety, social rejection, and so on remind us that each person is unique.
April 1, 2021
10/10 - read this book.
there's a lot of raw shit in here that feels so hard to read & know that aside from me reading it, somebody friggin' lived it. they lived it, they LIVE it - we live it. people live hard shit like this all the time and we're silenced by systems of oppression. to speak out and to share stories is an act of rebellion. an act of self-preservation, an act of self love, community love. i am so grateful for the contributors of this anthology who have shared.
my singular (but gigantic) criticism of this anthology is this: providers of care need to do better at walking the walk. there was a lot of, "i don't pathologize my clients, or see them as a diagnosis outside of lived context." but then there was a lot of that, so there's room for vast improvement on that front by everyone who provides care/support/whatever you want to call it.
there's a lot of raw shit in here that feels so hard to read & know that aside from me reading it, somebody friggin' lived it. they lived it, they LIVE it - we live it. people live hard shit like this all the time and we're silenced by systems of oppression. to speak out and to share stories is an act of rebellion. an act of self-preservation, an act of self love, community love. i am so grateful for the contributors of this anthology who have shared.
my singular (but gigantic) criticism of this anthology is this: providers of care need to do better at walking the walk. there was a lot of, "i don't pathologize my clients, or see them as a diagnosis outside of lived context." but then there was a lot of that, so there's room for vast improvement on that front by everyone who provides care/support/whatever you want to call it.
November 4, 2019
Amazing, thought provoking and raw. An amazing read.
July 1, 2022
Should be required reading for anyone wanting to learn more about the intersectionalities of mental health, LGBTQIA+ identities, socioeconomic statuses, and more, especially with regard to quality healthcare access.
May 16, 2023
The majority of his book was quite enjoyable. There's a lot of variety in contributors and they, for the most part, have thought intriguing perspectives to share.
The chapter on therapists often being survivors of trauma and abuse themselves but being forced or coerced to conceal that fact was very enlightening. I've never seen an insider perspective on it. I have friends who desire to become therapists to try to help people who have gone through the things they've gone through. But many therapists are often pushed into the position of the callous and neutral healthcare provider, assuming they know what's best for patients. Its an odd dichotomy I'm glad was examined.
The biggest outlier was the chapter called "Border/Lines." I was disappointed with this chapter for many reasons, the biggest one being that it forwards the stigma that borderline people face. In an anthology about mental health, I was not expecting to see ableism of this sort. I was hoping for a meaningful contribution to the topic of queer people and the BPD diagnosis, but I'll have to find it elsewhere.
The chapter on therapists often being survivors of trauma and abuse themselves but being forced or coerced to conceal that fact was very enlightening. I've never seen an insider perspective on it. I have friends who desire to become therapists to try to help people who have gone through the things they've gone through. But many therapists are often pushed into the position of the callous and neutral healthcare provider, assuming they know what's best for patients. Its an odd dichotomy I'm glad was examined.
The biggest outlier was the chapter called "Border/Lines." I was disappointed with this chapter for many reasons, the biggest one being that it forwards the stigma that borderline people face. In an anthology about mental health, I was not expecting to see ableism of this sort. I was hoping for a meaningful contribution to the topic of queer people and the BPD diagnosis, but I'll have to find it elsewhere.
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June 8, 2024read this for an assignment for school. there is a lot of deep stuff in this book discussing the intersection of holding a queer identity and dealing with mental health struggles. as a counselor-in-training, i felt that many chapters in this book gave me a wonderful perspective and insight as to how i can be an affirmative clinician for LGBTQIA+ clients, while also allowing me to reflect on my own experience and see parts of myself and experience in the struggles of so many others.
April 4, 2019
Headcase is a super-interesting anthology with many different forms and voices -- and that's just as it should be. A topic like this deserves a diverse set of intellectual, emotional, literary, and artistic approaches.
There's a photo reproduction of a Kate Millet artwork, selections from the script of a play dealing with conversion therapy, an essay on LGBTQ veterans from an out lesbian psychologist at a VA hospital, poetry and memoir in various forms, a half-dozen "glyph" illustrations of problems that people submitted in writing to the artist, and lots more.
The book doesn't put professional perspectives above others; even the mental health professionals who contributed to the book write from personal experience. The book accounts for race and class and gender in mental health and wellness -- meaning that the book nicely blends the personal and the political.
There's sorrow and struggle and humor and pathos in here. The book is a not a church choir singing in unison, but a diverse democracy of voices. It's great for mental health professionals and/or LGBTQ folks alike, regardless of whether you, the reader, struggle with mental health issues.
There's a photo reproduction of a Kate Millet artwork, selections from the script of a play dealing with conversion therapy, an essay on LGBTQ veterans from an out lesbian psychologist at a VA hospital, poetry and memoir in various forms, a half-dozen "glyph" illustrations of problems that people submitted in writing to the artist, and lots more.
The book doesn't put professional perspectives above others; even the mental health professionals who contributed to the book write from personal experience. The book accounts for race and class and gender in mental health and wellness -- meaning that the book nicely blends the personal and the political.
There's sorrow and struggle and humor and pathos in here. The book is a not a church choir singing in unison, but a diverse democracy of voices. It's great for mental health professionals and/or LGBTQ folks alike, regardless of whether you, the reader, struggle with mental health issues.
June 24, 2023
Much of what you can read in this anthology is rather personal and ranges from essays to poems and different kinds of illustrations. In addition to that there are essays written by professionals working with members of the queer community, e.g. a social worker, a psychologist, and a clinician.
What I liked most was learning about professionals who work with queer people and how they might see, understand and feel. This is where you find some rather sobering lines, but they also expressed some of the most positive messages. Reading about the intersection of mental health, mental illness and queer people in this anthology was also extremely interesting. I did not see that any of this was repetitive, and the scope of emotions and problems expressed in this book is incredibly varied.
Headcase is definitely worth reading, as it is thought-provoking to say the least. I’d recommend this title first of all to mental health professionals, but anyone connected to queer people could possibly be interested in reading this book.
5 out of 5 stars
What I liked most was learning about professionals who work with queer people and how they might see, understand and feel. This is where you find some rather sobering lines, but they also expressed some of the most positive messages. Reading about the intersection of mental health, mental illness and queer people in this anthology was also extremely interesting. I did not see that any of this was repetitive, and the scope of emotions and problems expressed in this book is incredibly varied.
Headcase is definitely worth reading, as it is thought-provoking to say the least. I’d recommend this title first of all to mental health professionals, but anyone connected to queer people could possibly be interested in reading this book.
5 out of 5 stars
September 14, 2025
This was a great anthology about LGBTQ+ mental health. There was a lot of diversity in form and content, but that made sure that a lot of different perspectives were involved. The personal stories of queer people dealing with mental illness and trying to navigate healthcare were sad and inspiring, while the more academic essays from caregivers were very interesting. I learned a lot about therapies for queer people decades ago (very scary practices such as lobotomies and electroshock therapy), which I did not know much about. I am glad things are better now, though as multiple essays show, a lot of queer people still cannot get the healthcare they need because of the cost or because of how the system is set up.
August 18, 2019
I loved this powerful anthology. However, it's 2019, this book was published this year, and there's no excuse for it not having content warnings. I chose to read it anyway, skimming each story before reading it and choosing not to read a few of them, but I would have been able to appreciate this book a lot more if that basic safety measure had been taken, and it was really frustrating that it wasn't.
I would absolutely recommend this book very strongly, but please just be aware of this omission and take care of yourself in whatever way you need to for a book that includes content such as graphic descriptions of abuse/violence, mental illness experiences, etc. without content warnings.
I would absolutely recommend this book very strongly, but please just be aware of this omission and take care of yourself in whatever way you need to for a book that includes content such as graphic descriptions of abuse/violence, mental illness experiences, etc. without content warnings.
August 1, 2019
Co-edited by 2 amazing women, this collection of writings (& a few drawings) is by a diverse group of LGBTQ+ people, about their experiences with mental health — and the ‘system’ that is supposed to provide ‘help’, but so often falls short in many ways. Based on the same philosophy as the classic ‘Our Bodies, Our Selves’, Headcase affirms that each individual is the ‘expert’ in their own life - and that family, friends, ‘allies’ and especially service providers should be working to listen, understand and partner with them if we are to be able to provide any real support. Also has a good section of pertinent resources at the end.
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April 12, 2019616.89 H4328 2019
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews