Years ago, somewhere on the Internet, I posted a few dumb drawings making fun of my own anxiety and depression.

The response to them was warmer than anticipated, and people kept asking for more. Blending humor with pure depression seemed to strike a chord with a decent amount of people. So I kept going, and after about three years of drawing, I had enough dumb drawings for a book called It's Hard to be a Person: defeating anxiety, surviving the world, and having more fun.

Humor has always been a primary mode of therapy for me. I still make fun of my own anxiety and “depresh” as catharsis. I sing about it on tour, talk about it on my podcast, and draw pictures of it here in this book. Putting my formerly-private-feelings out into the world has been tremendous therapy for me, and I wish I would’ve done it sooner.

Over the span of many years, I’ve been illustrating the “hacks”, “strategies”, or “exercises” that have worked best for me in combating the struggles in my head. More than anything I want this book to be useful for people.

I’m not a doctor, just a person who spends too much time in my head. The objective of It’s Hard to Be a Person is not to give unsolicited advice, but to hopefully save you some headaches on the long n’ winding road of life in your brain.


*Brett Newski has been featured on Rolling Stone, NPR, American Songwriter, SiriusXM, Boston Globe, and Paste.

*Newski's podcast Dirt from the Road also dives into mental health boosts. Guests include The Lumineers, All American Rejects, Dashboard Confessional, Verve Pipe, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Frank Turner.