Mental health is a subject that I am deeply an advocate for, and I make sure that people have adequate resources that reflect the necessity of taking care of their mental health. For someone who continues to deal with depression and anxiety, I always actively on the lookout for not only resources but books that highlight the necessary conversations we need to have surrounding mental health and illness. So, I compiled a list of books that are great conversation starters and will give readers a chance to expand their minds on the thoughts of mental health. I hope they provide you and your loved ones with the necessary healing and understanding:
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety by Sarah Wilson
The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful.
Sarah Wilson first came across this Chinese proverb in psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison’s memoir An Unquiet Mind, and it became the key to understanding her own lifelong struggle with anxiety. Wilson, bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur has helped over 1.5 million people worldwide to live better, healthier lives through her I Quit Sugar books and program. And all along, she has been managing chronic anxiety.
In First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, Wilson directs her intense focus and fierce investigating skills onto her lifetime companion, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism of her own experiences. (Credit: Dey Street)
It’s Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies): Inspirational people open up about their mental health – And Other Lies curated by Scarlett Curtis
Everyone has a mental health. So we asked:
What does your mental health mean to you?
THE RESULT IS EXTRAORDINARY.
Over 60 people have shared their story. This book is here to tell you:
You are OK.
FUNNY, IMPORTANT AND RELATABLE, THIS IS THE DEFINITIVE BOOK ON MENTAL HEALTH. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Julie Smith
Filled with secrets from a therapist’s toolkit, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before teaches you how to fortify and maintain your mental health, even in the most trying of times. Dr Julie Smith’s expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient, whether you want to manage anxiety, deal with criticism, cope with depression, build self-confidence, find motivation, or learn to forgive yourself. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before tackles everyday issues and offers practical solutions in bite-sized, easy-to-digest entries which make it easy to quickly find specific information and guidance.
Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical well-being. Packed with proven strategies, Dr. Julie’s empathetic guide offers a deeper understanding of how your mind works and gives you the insights and help you need to nurture your mental health every day. Wise and practical, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before might just change your life. (Credit: HarperOne)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place. (Credit: Penguin Books)
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.
The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world–for us all. (Credit: Berrett-Koehler Publishers)
Where Hope Comes from: Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light by Nikita Gill
Nikita Gill shares a collection of poems crafted as the world went into lockdown, tackles themes such as mental health and loneliness, and the precarity of hope. Through the life cycle of a star, she invites the reader to feel connected to the universe, taking us on a journey through the five stages of grief to the five stages of hope.This collection includes the phenomenal “Love in the Time of Coronavirus,” which was shared across social media over 20,000 times, as well as Gill’s poems of strength and hope, “How to Be Strong” and “Silver Linings.” Where Hope Comes From is fully illustrated with beautiful line drawings by the author. (Credit: Hachette Books)
And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al, has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart.
Al was special.
Al was talented.
Al had so many dreams … so why did he do it?
Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan decides to retrace Al’s footsteps. As he does, he meets Megan, Al’s former classmate, who is as determined as Nathan to keep Al’s memory alive. Together they start seeking answers, but will either of them be able to handle the truth about Al’s death when they eventually discover what happened? (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places…including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.
As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”–all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her. (Credit: Gallery/Scout Press)
Where The Light Goes by Sara Barnard
“Lizzie Beck” is one quarter of British pop sensation The Jinks, who launched their career via a reality TV talent show and rose straight to fame – and in Lizzie’s case, infamy, for her tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend, stints in rehab and candid confessions about her mental health on Instagram.
To Emmy, though, she will always be her older sister, Beth, the person whose footsteps she intends to follow. Except now she can’t. Because Beth, Emmy’s beloved sister, has died by suicide.
Forced to face a world without the guiding light of her bright, brilliant big sister, Emmy must wrestle with the impact of private grief, public scrutiny and discover who she once was and who she will become, now that Beth is gone. (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
Black Women’s Mental Health: Balancing Strength and Vulnerability edited by Stephanie Y. Evans, Kanika Bell & Nsenga K. Burton
Creates a new framework for approaching Black women’s wellness, by merging theory and practice with both personal narratives and public policy.
This book offers a unique, interdisciplinary, and thoughtful look at the challenges and potency of Black women’s struggle for inner peace and mental stability. It brings together contributors from psychology, sociology, law, and medicine, as well as the humanities, to discuss issues ranging from stress, sexual assault, healing, self-care, and contemplative practice to health-policy considerations and parenting. Merging theory and practice with personal narratives and public policy, the book develops a new framework for approaching Black women’s wellness in order to provide tangible solutions. The collection reflects feminist praxis and defines womanist peace in terms that reject both “superwoman” stereotypes and “victim” caricatures. Also included for health professionals are concrete recommendations for understanding and treating Black women. (Credit: The State University of New York Press)
I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: A Memoir by Baek Sehee
PSYCHIATRIST: So how can I help you?
ME: I don’t know, I’m – what’s the word – depressed? Do I have to go into detail?
Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her – what to call it? – depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgmental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can’t be normal. But if she’s so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favorite street food: the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like?Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a twelve-week period, and expanding on each session with her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions, and harmful behaviors that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness. It will appeal to anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair. (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)
Jog On: How Running Saved My Life by Bella Mackie
Divorced and struggling with deep-rooted mental health problems, Bella Mackie ended her twenties in tears. She could barely find the strength to get off the sofa, let alone piece her life back together. Until one day she did something she had never done of her own free will – she pulled on a pair of trainers and went for a run.
That first attempt didn’t last very long. But to her surprise, she was back out there the next day. And the day after that. She began to set herself achievable goals – to run 5k in under 30 minutes, to walk to work every day for a week, to attempt 10 push-ups in a row. Before she knew it, her mood was lifting for the first time in years.
In Jog On, Bella explains with hilarious and unfiltered honesty how she used running to battle crippling anxiety and depression, without having to sacrifice her main loves: booze, cigarettes and ice cream. With the help of a supporting cast of doctors, psychologists, sportspeople and friends, she shares a wealth of inspirational stories, research and tips that show how exercise often can be the best medicine. This funny, moving and motivational book will encourage you to say ‘jog on’ to your problems and get your life back on track – no matter how small those first steps may be. (Credit: HarperCollins)
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles–the earned wisdom that helps her continue to “become.” She details her most valuable practices, like “starting kind,” “going high,” and assembling a “kitchen table” of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness.
“When we are able to recognize our own light, we become empowered to use it,” writes Michelle Obama. A rewarding blend of powerful stories and profound advice that will ignite conversation, The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world. (Credit: Crown Publishing Group)
All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman
Sixteen-year-old Mehreen is overwhelmed by her anxiety and depression, and she doesn’t believe anyone in her life will understand if she tries to talk about it. She’s been thinking about suicide for a while when she discovers a website called MementoMori.com. The site matches people with partners and assigns them a date on which to end their lives, together. Mehreen is partnered with Cara and Olivia, strangers dealing with their own struggles.
But as the girls get to know one another in preparation for their “date of termination” they find themselves developing a strong bond–even becoming friends. For the first time, they’re each able to share their darkest secrets with people who won’t judge them. They realize that, with the right support systems, life is worth living after all. So they decide to abandon the suicide pact.
Except the website won’t let them stop.
As their assigned “date of termination” draws nearer and MementoMori continues to manipulate them, the girls will have to rely on one another to survive. (Credit: Carolrhoda Lab)
Thirsty by Jas Hammonds
It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing–she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.
As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable–and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success–and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process. (Credit: Roaring Brook Press)
The Burning by Laura Bates
What happens when you can’t run or hide from a mistake that goes viral?
New school. Check.
New town. Check.
New last name. Check.
Social media profiles? Deleted.
Anna and her mother have moved hundreds of miles to put the past behind them. Anna hopes to make a fresh start and escape the harassment she’s been subjected to. But then rumors and whispers start, and Anna tries to ignore what is happening by immersing herself in learning about Maggie, a local woman accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth century. A woman who was shamed. Silenced. And whose story has unsettling parallels to Anna’s own. (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
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