Thoughts & Things

Cartoons as Medicine

Just a couple months ago, I spoke of "Reading as Medicine" . Now I would like to talk about cartoons as medicine. As I struggle through many personal issues (as my physical health, associated issues with being on long term sick leave, and serious, life-threatening illness in the family), there are a few things that I know I can always rely on to comfort me when times are tough. Cartoons have been one of those comforts for a long time.

It doesn't seem to matter what's going on in my life, cartoons are something I can handle. When things get tough in real life, I can retreat to a world where things either work out in the end, or feel comical and whimsical when they don't work out in the end. I can recall many times when I was a little girl where I would toss on a cartoon when bad things happened in my life.

Cartoons offer a way to escape from reality from the comfort of my house. I don't need to go anywhere or do anything. I don't need to think or focus. I just have to hit play. I have always kept some of my favourites on DVD for comfort purposes, and it's even easier now that Netflix is around. My favourite cartoons are only a click away.

Unlike my favourite live action shows, they are often unlike reality altogether. Instead of real people in believable situations, I can watch a neon yellow family avert nuclear disaster, I can watch ponies use magic, I can watch secret agents fumble at their jobs. Even when cartoons deal with realistic subject matter, it still offers a great deal of escapism because of the lack of real people performing on the screen.

Cartoons offer the perfect form of escapism, and can be found in almost any genre, or targeted towards any audience. As the things in my life feel like they are crumbling around me, I know that my favourite cartoons will always offer me that bit of comfort.