What is Stress? Scary Artworks by Sonya Talwar

I asked a sample of students to anonymously answer the question “what does anxiety/stress/pressure feel like to you”. I then took the answers and illustrated them in a set of six pieces, each is captioned with the answers referenced.

“Hell” & “Pressure on my chest/heart that doesn’t stop”

“Like time is running out” & “Like my world is ending”

“Have you seen joker, just like that” “Basically a headache and then a mental breakdown” & “Too much happening at once and I can’t keep track”

“I can’t breathe” & “My head feels like it’s about to burst, full of pressure from chains of thoughts”

“Emotional” & “Pressure I can’t keep in”

“Like I’m being pulled in too many directions”