To continue my series on mental health representation in media, I am sharing some books that I think have interesting and accurate representations of mental health in them.
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They Both Die in The End – Death, anxiety, and depression
While not explicitly focusing on mental health, They Both Die in The End is full of discussion and a look at mental health around the concept of death. In this world, you will be called and told that you are going to die on that day. Two boys receive this exact call and end up spending their last day together through an app. It is an interesting story surrounding the difficult concept of death and the anxiety and grief surrounding it.
(Don’t) Call Me Crazy – real-life stories
Sometimes it is more helpful to read the stories of actual people who face these issues. This collection of stories discusses the concept of being called “crazy” from perspectives of a variety of people, from athletes to actors and beyond.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story – Depression and suicide
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is the story of a boy who enters himself into a psychiatric hospital after contemplating suicide and calling a hotline. He then interacts with all of the other patients and learns about his own issues more. The story is derived from the true story of the author doing the same thing in his youth, and that own voice background helps validate the feelings and situation.
Girl, Interrupted – multiple illnesses and psychiatric health care
Girl, Interrupted is the memoir of Susanna Kaysen. She shares her experiences as a young woman in an American psychiatric hospital in the 1960s after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. OCD and compulsive lying are a couple of the other illnesses discussed in the book, and these are not as readily available in literature as other issues like anxiety and depression.
What books with mental health themes do you recommend? Share them in the comments!
Another great list. You have such a lovely blog.