The Lithium Membrain 1000mm x 500mm Acrylic on Canvas

The title of my painting, ‘The Lithium Membrain’, merges the terms ‘Lithium’, ‘membrane’, and ‘brain’ to represent how Lithium crosses the brain's protective membrane to stabilise mood and promote positive mental health.

As the artist of ‘The Lithium Membrain’, I used the metaphors of a tree, a river, and a bridge to illustrate the brain's intricate beauty. The tree symbolises knowledge, the river represents consciousness, and the bridge signifies the pathway that connects and protects the brain. The girl in the painting gazing up at her brain in awe is me.

The river symbolises the flow of electrical signals, like a waterway traverses a landscape. Calm waters alternating with turbulent torrents, mirror the shifts between depression and mania. Axons and dendrites overlay the tree displaying vast neural connections, while the bridge represents the blood-brain barrier, crucial for regulating the entry of substances. Lithium's journey into the brain crosses the blood-brain barrier, helping to regulate neurotransmitters and stabilise mood. It smooths the brain's turbulent currents, reducing mood swings and fostering stability and balance.

Anne Naylor (Artist)

Anne Naylor is an artist, advocate and author. She wrote ‘Art from Adversity: A Life with Bipolar,' which was published in 2013 by Interactive Publications. Her artworks are on display at The CADE Clinic in The Royal North Shore Hospital at St Leonards in Sydney. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2004, Anne has been taking Lithium for over ten years.

We are always looking for interesting and visually appealing images for the cover of the Journal and would welcome suggestions or pictures, which should be sent to Dr Allan Beveridge, British Journal of Psychiatry, 21 Prescot Street, London, E1 8BB, UK or [email protected].