UK BH WELL team promotes wellness with comic book series

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 23, 2025) — Thursday is National Comic Book Day, a day to appreciate the vibrant world of comics and the stories that captivate our imaginations. This year, the UK College of Nursing and the Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) research team are celebrating a collection of comics that does more than entertain — it empowers, educates and uplifts those facing some of life’s most difficult challenges.  

Those two partners are transforming conversations about mental and behavioral health. This innovative group of researchers and practitioners has created “The Dimensions,” a comic book series that shines a spotlight on real-life mental health challenges. Each comic book represents one of the SAMHSA-endorsed eight Dimensions of Wellness. The eight Dimensions of Wellness, various aspects that contribute to one’s overall wellbeing, are environmental, financial, physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional and occupational.  

The BH WELL comic books feature eight unique superheroes, each navigating a different mental or behavioral health challenge:  

• Environmental Dimension: Eric Ripple, aka Captain Calm, tackles tobacco use disorder.  

• Financial Dimension: Lucy Stretch, aka Elastic Beauty, lives with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  

• Physical Dimension: Leo Lowe, aka Thundering Tornado, experiences post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  

• Intellectual Dimension: Einstein Al-Kno, aka Agent Replacement, experiences memory loss and challenges with social interactions.  

• Social Dimension: Nova Pow, aka Magnetic Shock, immersed in polysubstance use.  

• Spiritual Dimension: Raha, aka Divine Queen, experiences hoarding tendencies.  

• Emotional Dimension: Hope Ripple, aka The Healer, experiences compassion fatigue.  

• Occupational Dimension: Aanisah Alomar, aka Gentle Chameleon, lives with depression.  

Each issue focuses on one superhero’s journey — detailing their struggles, highlighting their resilience and providing hopeful steps toward recovery. The stories are built on peer-reviewed research, primarily conducted by BH WELL team members, ensuring that readers not only connect emotionally with the characters but also walk away with credible, evidence-based information. The comic books showcase graphics by Dotty Berryman, a local artist.   

The core mission of BH WELL is simple but powerful: promote wellness among individuals facing mental and behavioral health challenges. The BH WELL team strives to make research accessible and usable. Rather than keeping knowledge locked in academic journals, they translate complex behavioral health concepts into stories that anyone can understand and relate to — especially young adults, community partners, and those living with mental and behavioral health challenges.  

To reach more communities, BH WELL partnered with Jeorg Sauer, Ph.D., and Juan Canedo, D.H.S., faculty members at UK, to translate the series into French and Spanish. The BH WELL team also translated the comics into Chinese and Arabic. These efforts make the comic series accessible to broader audiences across the U.S. and beyond.  

All comic books are free to read and download on the BH WELL website, making them a valuable resource for educators, counselors, healthcare workers and anyone curious about mental health.  

Mental and behavioral health challenges can often feel isolating. But BH WELL wants readers to know that recovery is real — and it starts with hope, support and information. Comic books are an entertaining and impactful way to share real-life struggles and evidence-based solutions for people who care about those living with or experiencing mental and behavioral health challenges.  

If you or someone you love is living with a mental or behavioral health challenge, treatment and recovery are within reach. Living with these challenges takes courage, and with the right treatment and support, your inner superhero can help you face what comes next.

Housed within the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, BH WELL exists to promote health and wellness among individuals facing mental and behavioral health challenges. The BH WELL research team members are experts in behavioral health integration and change. They provide the essentials of mental and behavioral health support: practice, research, education, scholarship, and service. For more information about BH WELL, visit our website at  bhwell.uky.edu.