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It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words and, in the case of Bahraini visual artist Enas Sistani’s photographic work, it speaks volumes.
In 2019, the 34-year-old photographer was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) which is a mental health disorder that impacts the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life.
It includes self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behaviour and a pattern of unstable relationships.
Having struggled with BPD since she was a teenager, Enas decided to share her thoughts and feelings in picture form as part of her own personal conceptual photography project.
Her images were so powerful and eye-opening that they went viral on social media as well as on TV which has motivated her to continue raising awareness about mental health issues through her lens.
“My first project on mental illness was designed to tell my own personal story as someone who suffers from BPD,” said Enas, from Saar, who works as a project officer for an international organisation in the field of labour mobility and human development. “BPD is basically a mental health disorder that affects the way a person perceives themselves or others. It can include difficulty managing emotions and behaviour, unstable relationships, depression, anxiety as well as self-image issues.
“I wanted to be able to not only talk about what it was like living with a disorder, but also how people, society and the community perceive it.
“Stigma is very common when it comes to BPD – both from people and, at times, healthcare practitioners, as they would usually label BPD patients as being ‘treatment resistant’.
“This needs to be tackled because, if anything, it only reinforces the misconception that BPD sufferers do not want to reach out for help and that is anything but correct.
“In my photos, I depicted the impacts that people’s words can have on a person with mental illness.”
She wrote the words and statements that she received from people as a reaction to her condition on her skin. These statements included ‘must be due to your lack of faith’, ‘your BPD is rubbing off on me’ and ‘it’s all in your head’.
“In those photos, I wanted to show how such words could have a lasting effect akin to a scar on a skin,” explained the Bahrain Polytechnic graduate who majored in Business Management. She also received a Fulbright Graduate Scholarship and achieved a Master’s in Public Administration in New York in 2019.
“My work talks about the lack of awareness and education in this region of the world and how important it is for people to get to understand mental illnesses better as a stepping-stone to seeking treatment and overcoming the implications.
“After posting those photos on my social media they went viral and were showcased on BBC Arabia, VICE Arabia, as well as Al Hurra channel.
“I was also approached by so many people who started telling me about their experiences with mental illness and how difficult it was for them to talk about it to their friends and family as many would just shrug them off rather than support them to seek treatment.
“It is really important to work towards raising awareness, educating people and correcting common misconceptions around the disorder. It is also important to encourage deeper understanding on the disorder by reaching out to individuals living with BPD and hearing their personal stories rather than shutting them out.
“I am, however, happy to see major shifts in people’s perception of mental illness nowadays as many are beginning to talk about it openly, creating a community of support as a result.”
She is currently raising further awareness by producing a set of photographs that depicts the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health. She is also partaking in a number of photography and art initiatives and working to produce a piece on spirituality for one of those initiatives.
“I know that the current pandemic is taking its toll on everyone’s mental health,” said Enas who always had an eye for art. “You might feel exhausted but remember to take the time to unwind, take it easy, listen to your body and do not be too hard on yourself. Like everything else, this too shall pass.
“I hope to be able to implement positive change in the world and be able, through my photography, to shed the light on topics that people are too wary to talk about due to societal restrains or misconception.
“I want to be able to be the voice of the unheard and that is exactly what I have been doing by addressing controversial topics such as mental illness, gender stereotyping, living in a patriarchal society, women empowerment and many more. My dream is to, definitely, be able to touch people’s lives in a positive way.”
* For more details, email solovagabond.photography@gmail.com or visit @solovagabond on Instagram.
