Addressing psychiatric disorders and genetics: the meaningful use of comics for health information

Abstract

In the fields of healthcare and education, comics have shown considerable academic and teaching importance, with their combination of text and images. As a well-known character in comics, Batman allows us to discuss several relevant topics, from the outcomes in adulthood of experiencing parental death in childhood to genetic and epigenetic changes that may be factors of vulnerability to psychiatric disorders in adulthood. In this text, a narrative of Batman is developed, demonstrating the possibility of using it in an academic context and intending at paying greater attention to patients’ history and the relationship between genetics and behaviour.

Keywords:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• adverse childhood experiences
• genetic variants
• Batman

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Gustavo Souza Novaes for providing original Batman artworks. The authors also thank Camila Paixão Pequeno for reviewing this manuscript for the English language.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.