Featured story: The Invisible Enemy

As some of you may know, there was a time when our son Jacob battled a rare blood disease called autoimmune neutropenia. The two years during which he was ill were without a doubt the hardest of our lives. When he got better, all we wanted to do was forget all about it.

Luckily for me, the pandemic served as a helpful trigger for old traumatic memories to resurface. The flashbacks and panic left over from the years led me to try Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Through questioning my own beliefs and anxieties while looking the waving fingers of my therapist, I found my way back.

I created a comic about my experiences for Drawing the Times, a graphic journalism platform. I’m incredibly proud of this piece, and the responses have been overwhelming. I dug deep for this story, and if it helps only one person to feel less alone, I’ve succeeded.