Who, What, Why - All About The Opal

Welcome! This blog post is coming from Victoria, creator of The Opal Zine. Read on to hear a little more about me and the motivation behind this project. 

What is The Opal? 

Inspired by the Opal journal publication made by psychiatric patients in 1851, The Opal/The Opal Zine (2025) is a space for those who live outside of the “typical” mental health presentation. 

This space is for sharing education, art, and reflections on navigating life alongside mental health struggles. 

Issue One is out now, and more will be coming soon!

If there’s anything mental health-related that you want to see discussed, feel free to message me! 

I want this to be able to be collaborative and hear what’s on people’s minds. 

Psychiatric survivors, this space is for you.

This space will be here for resource sharing, storytelling, expressions of hope, despair, and everything in between.

Who is The Opal?

Me! Hi, I’m Victoria (@sillycreativexx). 

I live with bipolar 2, PMDD (along with other fun stuff), and have for 12+ years. 

I’ve experienced multiple adolescent psych hospital admissions. 

I’m a very out and proud lesbian. 

I’ve experienced suicide loss. 

I’m working on my peer specialist certification while getting my degree. 

I’ve worked in craft workshop spaces and in special education with children. 

I love using art for wellness, tinkering around with different creative mediums, and talking about the realities of recovery. 

Why was The Opal Created?

I experienced multiple psychiatric hospital admissions as a teenager and lived in residential treatment at my therapeutic high school for a year. 

I witnessed and experienced things that should have never happened and were unacceptable that I continue to unpack in my adulthood.

As I started my peer support specialist courses, I found myself feeling so validated about what I had before seen as my “radical” views of the mental health industrial complex, fueled by the trauma I experienced. 

The focus on person-centered techniques were a breath of fresh air. 

As I began to learn about the psychiatric survivor movement, I felt so passionate about diving deeper into this world.

I continue to seek treatment for my mental health conditions and feel passionate about skill-sharing with those who have experienced the same, which is why I started this project.

It’s time to leave the shame behind, come together, and share our experiences.

Let’s talk about the taboo, our frustrations, OUR viewpoints.

Mental health shouldn’t be so far behind. Treatment should not be traumatizing.

I hope you’ll join this journey as I continue to learn more about myself and share my story and others.

From Victoria’s heart,

I hesitated to start this project as I’ve been in such a difficult episode, and doing much of anything has been hard. But I can't ignore the conversations I’ve been having with myself in my own mind and how much passion has been sparked by what I’ve been learning recently. New realizations that have come to me through my peer support training have been a glimmer of hope for me. 

As financial situations become more difficult for most people, and mental health care becomes harder to access, littered with funding cuts and increased costs, I feel a responsibility to do what we can to make things a little easier for each other and our peers, whether it’s referrals to safe resources for mental health help or sharing perspectives. 

Thus, the Opal Zine was born! The Opal Zine was created to center the voices of those living with mental health conditions, neurodiversity, and/or madness; specifically, those who have experienced harm in the mental health system.