1. YA Books About Mental Illness You Should Read A good book is always better than a short article. It helped me learn the importance of communication. These books traverse all aspects of mental health and mental illness, and they’re both fiction and nonfiction. Sign up for our As/Is newsletter. Discover the best Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Depression & Mental Illness in Best Sellers. You must have a goodreads account to vote. ", "It actually nailed exactly how I feel when I'm really struggling with OCD. We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing. Their lives have been full of pain, suffering, loneliness, and violence. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. One thing I particularly loved is how it sidestepped the common trope in YA where a depressed character is 'cured' of their depression after they fall in love. Then, I’m going to underline 5 other books I can’t wait to read! It's about feeling suicidal and it was the first book I read in which the author really seemed to understand what it's like to feel that depressed, that hopeless, that out of control, and to see no other way out of your misery except through death. OMG SO GOOD. 29 YA Books About Mental Health That Actually Nail It. They also offer epic storylines and realistic main characters at the turn of every page. The book seems like it would be a bummer, but it’s a blast in the right places and it gets serious when it needs to be. The hopelessness that Feyre faced and her overcoming it slowly and painfully resonated with my experience. ", "Its main character suffers from psychosis and it has two supporting characters who have depression and Down syndrome. May 14, 2014 . ", "It's my favorite 'depression book' that is about so much more than depression. 1. It’s so easy to misunderstand a mental illness, especially if you haven’t experienced the unique set of problems and worries that accompany it. Melissa Albert burst onto the YA scene (and catapulted into readers' hearts) with her 2018 debut The Hazel Wood. ", "I read it just after I left treatment for my eating disorder and I was shocked by the accuracy of it all. "An amazing portrayal of how mental illness can be part of someone’s life. Want to be featured on BuzzFeed? Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. This book of essays is full of great conversation starters, tales of growth and knowledge, and the strong feeling that you are not alone in the way that you’re feeling. It's about so much more than mental illness — which is why I love it so much. Read 4 698 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The award-winning novel focuses on teenage Miles, and his encounter with the beautiful but emotionally unstable Alaska Young. No spoilers, but his love story is truthful, heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful. But when I read that Green included his own grappling with mental illness, especially anxiety and OCD, in the book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This darkly fantastical... Because Everything Is Right but Everything Is Wrong, The Fear of Doing Nothing: Notes of a Young Therapist, Constellations with Batteries and Sellotape, How to Handle a Narcissist: Understanding and Dealing with a Range of Narcissistic Personalities (Narcissism Books), Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely (TrueColors, #1), PAWS OFF, BARKY BARK! FOR MENTAL HEALTH MONTH . 8 YA Novels for Mental Health Awareness Month. ", "It's great even if it did kill me with feelings. One of my personal favorites. The protagonist’s struggle with her diagnosis felt so real, and it even helped me reconcile some of my own thoughts. Also included are books where the teen main character lives with or is close to someone who struggles with their mental health… ", "Such a great book surrounding OCD and mental illness. Seriously, just read it — it’s one of the best books in the world. Because I've also experienced trauma-based depression, I got a lot of perspective from this book. For many, the stigma around mental illness is decreasing; we’re opening up more, sharing resources, and rejecting shame. At times the main character is just as confused about what's going on with him as you might feel yourself and it's incredibly comforting to know that other people struggle like this as well. A girl who had never left the house and her mother, all alone. It isn't completely cliché and doesn't try too hard. ", "Every shy, geeky, anxious (but still awesome) girl will recognize herself in Cath. ", "The Raven Cycle — a series made up of The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and The Raven King — has SO much going for it. Josh has lost everyone he loves. This story is about the recovery and healing, not of the pain and sorrow. There are books about addiction, eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and more, as experienced by the teen main characters. must-read YA books about mental health. This is a fantasy novel that just happens to star characters who struggle with mental health issues, particularly PTSD. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and a great time to explore the many writers who write on diverse topics related to mental health and mental illness. Books. by Rachel Strolle. Girl Interrupted book. Very unique, very heartwarming. YA books dealing with issues relating to mental health and clinical psychology, first published in 2000 or later. May is Mental Health … Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks eloquently about the dangers of a single story. That book means the absolute world to me. ", "It tells the story of a young girl struggling with depression. It doesn’t sugarcoat anything and it puts into words just what obsessions feel like and how they affect everything we say or do. Find below a list of 50 (er, 55!) With mental illness on the rise for adolescents, our expert panel discusses how mental health issues and treatment are portrayed in Young Adult (YA) literature and other media and why it so important to consider the messages they promote. Not only is the representation of various mental illnesses expanding, but so is the ­sensitivity of their portrayals. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green . ", "It tells the story of Josh and Nastya, two high schoolers who have lost everything in two very different ways. BuzzFeed Contributor. YA Books to Read. The book gave me hope for the PTSD and grief I experienced and still experience. California residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Those are a great way to learn more about what it's like to live with a mental disorder, but sometimes it isn't enough. Note: Responses have been edited for length or clarity. Looking for Alaska by John Green By Caitlin White. Pan. One thing that can help make it a little easier are YA novels that deal with mental health issues. list created December 29th, 2016 Towson University . Because taking care of your brain is important. These books traverse all aspects of mental health and mental illness, and they're both fiction and nonfiction. Reporting on what you care about. And although fictional books are just that, fiction, stories are almost always reflective of things going on in reality. … 1. This book covers a lot of different mental health concerns and worries, from anxiety and depression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders and more. It also emphasized that it wasn't just ONE thing that made the female main character suicidal. ", "It's about a boy who is struggling with life in high school after losing weight at a fat camp. The book also addresses topics like sexual assault, divorce, and physical disabilities, and the author's writing style is amazing. I found it to be one of the most exquisite, authentic, raw, and beautiful explorations of navigating life with anxiety and OCD I’ve ever read. ", "The Six of Crows duology is a thrilling fantasy about an impossible heist carried out by a cast of super-diverse thieves and crooks. Funny, witty, and heartwarming — and well-researched at the same time. We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about their favorite YA books that deal with mental health and mental illness. ", "It's such a raw, unglamorized, and honest look into anorexia. Navigating the rough waters of an accurate portrayal runs the risk of erring on the side of harmful stigmatization. From the title and the cover blurb, you expect this book to be fluff or at most a John Green-esque semiserious YA romance, but it turns out to be a super-honest look at teenage depression and how it really can affect anyone. ", "This book is about what grief can do to you and how it can make you feel. ", "It focuses on how a family member’s mental illness can affect their lives and offers a different perspective on mental illness in daily lives. The book touches so many places in your heart and you really feel the love in the book. This lyrical, profound contemporary novel takes an honest, mesmerizing look at the effects of grief and living with mental illness. Helping teens better understand their mental life, as well as better cultivating the language to openly communicate about it, are YA books about mental illness. It's about psychics and magic and love and tarot and sleeping kings and ghosts, but throughout it all, it weaves in themes of trauma, abuse, grief, and anxiety that the characters deal with and overcome. Nastya was in a horrible accident. Score A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. ", "It was the first book that put into words things I knew I was feeling, but couldn't describe to other people. It would be better for teens if they were about the little things, to help teens understand what it’s really like and maybe even to realize what they’re experiencing and how their brain works might be more than they think. ", "This book really helped me deal with the depression I faced after my father unexpectedly passed away in February. There are many more books in my display that students have access to, but these eight are where I start with book talks to give them a wide view of what the topic of Mental Health can deal with. When I was a teen, the only YA books that talked about mental health were the kinds with severe suicide attempts…not only were they really hard to read, but they made me feel like I was depressed enough to really complain. must-read YA books about mental health. I felt that it was truly accurate, speaking from experience. It really is the perfect YA for anyone looking for a male main character dealing with mental illness in a very non-preachy way. It's dramatic, yet ultimately inspiring. It describes perfectly what depression feels like, but also subtly nails a lot of the stigma people who deal with it face. It also deals with depression, self-harm, and the need to be perfect, which is common for people who suffer from an eating disorder. This book takes you on a journey of healing and self-discovery. The following list of books about mental illness contains fiction, graphic novels, nonfiction, memoirs, biographies, and more, all books that broaden our understanding of mental illness from first hand and second hand experiences. Mira, the main character, has a well-intentioned family, but they fail time and time again to see the realities of what depression is like and constantly let their disappointment show when she can't immediately 'snap out of it.' Obsessed with travel? I highly recommend it! ", "It deals with more of the struggles of physical illness at first, but then has surprising characters with mental illnesses that just pull it all together perfectly. Picture Books; YA Fiction; So You Want to Read YA Series ; Review Policy; Mental Health in YA Lit and Serving Teen Readers. With the dramatic rise in diagnoses of mental health challenges comes the pressing need to talk about mental health in a bigger way. Writing about mental illnesses is difficult. 423 Public Domain Pictures I've seen multiple articles of people describing their experiences with mental health. It’s not just books about people with depression, but a wide range of mental illnesses, traumas, disabilities, and processes. ", "I recommend it to everybody. ", "It's book is about love, depression, high school, musicals, and everything in between. Follow the BuzzFeed Community on. Oh, and the main character is biracial and the supporting characters are queer, which is always a plus in my book. One character is gay and deals with depression, and his voice is so refreshingly honest, complete with dark suicidal humor that a lot of authors skirt around. Here’s a list of 5 YA novels that brilliantly tackle mental health issues. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. It's about so much more than mental illness — which is why I love it so much. When I was at my worst point in my ED this book really saved my life. I’d even highlighted and annotated my copy, and once I brought it into my therapist’s office and showed her some passages because it put how I was feeling into words better than I could.". Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. Amazing perspective on what depression is. Many YA books about mental health, in particular, have amazing words of wisdom for teens and young adults who are just starting to realize that something isn't right with their health. Patrick Ness. We’re seeing more YA books that address mental health and new ways of tackling a difficult subject. There are books about addiction, eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and more, as experienced by the teen main characters. Truly my favorite book of all time. 266. But that's not the case for everyone, and there's still a lot of work to do. ", "It is a story that deals with depression, bereavement, and relationships. Young adult novels are some of the most popular types of books out there. ", "The protagonist Solomon is agoraphobic and the book deals with the subject tactfully. September 25, 2020. Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes. From brutally honest to shockingly hilarious, these books get it. November 4, 2019 | Written by: Kelly on November 4, 2019. Mental illness portrayal in YA books doesn’t have to be about the big things – breakdowns and extreme reactions or lows. It was so beautiful. It creates conflict in the plot, yes, but is never a character's defining struggle or treated as something that will be magically fixed by the end of the series. ", "Absolutely heartbreaking and breathtaking and helps people who have never suffered with a mental illness to understand what it's like. Aza and her best friend Daisy investigate the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett. If you haven’t read THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE, he turns the entire Chosen One trope on its head. It deals with all sorts of different problems, including eating disorders. ", "It's about a girl who had to deal with the changes around her while dealing with her mother's depression. King of YA, John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down focusses on Aza, a sixteen-year-old with obsessive-compulsive disorder. ", "It's such a beautifully written book. November 4, 2019 illness Get it Right books traverse all aspects mental. 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