THE BRAIN ZINE: How often do you think about your brain?

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month—May 2022, Harvard-trained educator, artist, advocate, and international award-winning author John Schlimm partnered with AllMed Healthcare Management to ask everyone an extraordinarily simple question: How often do you think about your brain? Like really think about that amazing organ inside your head.

Aside from the occasional headache, the likely honest answer is probably “very little.” And even if your mental well-being is front and center on your mind daily, John’s goal is to cut through the often overwhelming, mass-produced, confusing, stigmatized, and mountainous flow of content about mental health, and invite individuals to the very core of this topic—their own complex and beautiful brain—all as a new and more easily navigable starting point for this critical and timely discussion.

THE BRAIN ZINE: How often do you think about your brain? is a free, 79-page e-zine (download link is below) created by John and shared globally as a public art/advocacy project by Allmed Healthcare Management, whose team exemplifies the very mission of motivating and elevating a national and global audience to pursue and achieve their best lives.

In his introduction to THE SMILE ZINE, Dr. Micah T Hoffman, AllMed Behavioral Health Medical Director, writes: “Using only the image of the brain and the word ‘brain,’ The Brain Zine creates a fresh and simplified new pathway for you to think about the three-pound organ inside your head. It provides numerous entry points for you, and people of all ages, to contemplate and discuss the many different, fantastic, challenging, and often mysterious aspects of your brain.”

Inspired by John’s own mental health journey and his public advocacy, THE BRAIN ZINE uses the simple language of one word and one symbol—“BRAIN” and the image of the brain—to invite the reader and viewer of any age and walk of life to engage and begin a renewed, mindful, and life-changing conversation with themselves and others.

In the tradition of other artists who have created zines—such as Keith Haring, the riot grrrl movement, and more recently Austin Kleon, Ben Watts, and even The Jonas Brothers, as well as outsider creatives active in the 70’s and 80’s punk and activist scenes in LA and NYC—each 8 1/2” x 11” page of THE BRAIN ZINE visually explores the brain through contemporary and colorful mixed-media collages and montages of words, images, drawings, and more, which John created old-school style—using pen, paper, scissors, glue, tape, and photocopier.

THE BRAIN ZINE: How often do you think about your brain?

True to its grassroots nature and intention, THE BRAIN ZINE is accessible to everyone through a 79-page e-zine edition PDF that can easily be downloaded for free here:

THE BRAIN ZINE DISCUSSION & ACTIVITY GUIDE

Also, in order to further the impact and reach of this project, John additionally created THE BRAIN ZINE DISCUSSION & ACTIVITY GUIDE as a free 19-page PDF download below. It can be used with students and other folks of any age, as well as community, nonprofit, corporate, and any other groups.