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10 Non-Fiction Books About Mental Health

10 non-fiction books about mental health
For Mental Health Awareness Week, I thought I’d chat about 10 books about mental health that are on my wishlist, TBR, or that I’ve read.

Mad Girl: A Happy Life with a Mixed-up Mind by Bryony Gordon

Mad Girl is super accessible. It reads just like having a chat with Bryony over coffee about her OCD, and is really enjoyable and funny. Mad Girl does what I think we all should do: talk about mental health as if we were talking about the flu, honestly and without fear of judgement.

A Series of Unfortunate Stereotypes: Naming and Shaming Mental Health Stigmas by Lucy Nichol

As someone who deals with anxiety, Lucy discusses the ways in which mental illness is viewed, and tackles unfair stereotypes e.g. that people with mental illness are ‘narcissists’, ‘hypochondriacs’ and ‘psycho’.

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

Matt Haig suffers from depression (like 20% of people) and Reasons to Stay Alive is his award-winning book on how he copes with the illness. It’s loved by many and one I hope to finally read this year.

A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z by Natasha Devon

One for millennials, this is a guide to mental illness, from A (anxiety) to Z (zero f**ks given).

It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot

Rubyโ€™s illustrations show what itโ€™s like to suffer from all kinds of mental health issues: anxiety, bipolar disorder, self-harm, eating disorders, and depression. We all know that mental health needs to be talked about more, and I really do think that humour โ€“ visual humour especially โ€“ can be a great way to do it.

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I treated myself to a new book. ๐Ÿ’›

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How to Survive the End of the World (When it’s in Your Own Head) by Aaron Gillies

If you don’t follow @TechnicallyRon on Twitter, do it now! He’s so hilarious and relatable, and I can’t wait to read his first book. He talks about the impact that anxiety has and gives readers some tools to fight back alongside his trademark humour.

The Time in Between: A Memoir of Hunger and Hope by Nancy Tucker

Nancy was diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia as a teenager and The Time in Between is her memoir of her experience and recovery.

The Self-Care Project by Jayne Hardy

Self care is something we all should do and I can’t wait to get my hands on this book, written by the founder and CEO of The Blurt Foundation, a charity that aims to increase awareness and understanding of depression.

It’s All In Your Head: A Guide to Getting Your Sh*t Together by Rae Earl

Aimed at teenagers, It’s All in Your Head is full of friendly advice, coping strategies and laugh-out-loud moments to get you through the difficult days written by someone who gets it.

Secrets for the Mad: Obsessions, Confessions and Life Lessons by Dodie Clark

A mix of doodles, poetry and prose all about self-care, mental health, life and relationships: “This is for the people with minds that just don’t stop; for those who feel everything seemingly a thousand times more than the people around them.”

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12 Comments

  • Reply
    Bookish Rita
    14th May 2018 at 10:40 am

    Thank you for putting this list of books together! I will add them to my TBR right now ?

  • Reply
    whatthelog
    14th May 2018 at 11:53 am

    Great list!! Adding them to my goodreads ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Reply
    Naty
    14th May 2018 at 6:47 pm

    What a great post!!! Have you read Furiously Happy? I highly recommend that one too! I’ll check some of those on Goodreads because they sound so cool ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Reply
      prettybooks
      21st September 2018 at 8:38 pm

      I have! I liked it, but it’s not a favourite.

  • Reply
    Lotus
    15th May 2018 at 10:54 am

    Thanks for the list! Mental Health is a topic that more people should really read up on.

  • Reply
    The Sunday Snuggle W20/2018 #TheSundaySnuggle | Naty's Bookshelf
    15th May 2018 at 1:18 pm

    […] Pretty Books – 10 Non-Fiction Books About Mental Health […]

  • Reply
    Therapy With Books
    11th July 2018 at 6:00 pm

    Great list. Lots of new ones for me here and I am quite into the topic. Oliver Sacks books are great in this category too. I also write about books specially around books that might help people for certain challenges at: https://therapywithbooks.clinic/ , this list gives me a lot of material to go through and add! Thanks for sharing.

  • Reply
    Shoutout Sunday – A Whole Month’s Worth of Incredible Posts! – Use Your Words
    26th September 2018 at 3:23 am

    […] Stacey @ Pretty Books shared her recommendations for non-fiction books about mental illness, for those hoping to learn something new, or to help those battling mental illness themselves. I am especially keen to check out Dodie’s book, Secrets for the Mad. […]

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