This is a topic I’ve been reading a lot about over the last few years – longer, even. It’s one that’s close to my own experiences and the experiences of people in my life, and one I find very fascinating. I started reading about depression, then anxiety, and various other issues like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. I find the human brain vastly interesting, and particularly when something is not typical in how a brain works – understanding what it feels like, what myths exist about it, and (if we know) why it works that way is of particular interest. Over the years I’ve read a bunch of books that deal with everything from the more common anxiety and depression to situational disorders like PTSD or post-partum depression/anxiety, to the more extreme mental illnesses like dissociative identity disorder or borderline personality disorder to neurodivergence like autism or ADHD, even odd occurrences that don’t fit any of these. Any and all of these are of interest to me. Some of the books I’ve read are memoirs, others are graphic and/or humorous, others are clinical. Doesn’t matter – if it’s well written, I’ll read it. So here are some of my favourites, and some I’m still looking forward to reading.
Memoirs (by patients or those close to them):
Books that have an element of a mental illness, trauma and/or a neurodivergent account, but aren’t solely focused on it:
Books about patients or written with but not by them:
Graphic accounts:
Fictional accounts:
Books I am looking forward to:
This ended up being a long one, and I know there are many more I’ve forgotten about. But these are some I’ve either read and thought were good, or ones I’ve heard good things about and want to get to. I’d love to hear from you guys – which books on the topics of mental illness, neurodivergence and/or trauma would you recommend? Have you read any of these – particularly any I haven’t read yet?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Thank you for posting this very important list.
Thank you for stopping by and checking it out!
Great list! Fascinating topic!
I’ve read Brain on Fire and Elinor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Of the ones you haven’t read yet, I’ve only read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but it was a long time ago. I do remember liking it, though, and have read at least one of the author’s other books. I just listened to a book that you might like — How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by K.C. Davis. I listened to it on audio; it’s very short.
I have started The Curious Incident and found it a bit hard to get into, but I just know that if I can push through and get into it, I will end up loving it. I’ve heard such great things. Oooh, thank you for the reminder! I actually have that on my audio TBR, so it’s great to hear that you enjoyed it, and think I might like it! Moving it up the list.
I feel like mental illness is being addressed a lot in books lately, which is great. It needs to be talked about more so that there’s more understanding and empathy out there. I also find the brain totally fascinating, so it’s interesting to learn more about it, both in fiction and non.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I completely agree. I appreciate seeing the range of books coming out that deal with aspects of mental illness and neurodivergence, regardless of whether they’re perfectly executed or my cup of tea. Just the fact that they’re out there means a lot!
A book I read a few years ago that touched on such topics is The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib. It focuses on eating disorders–causes, treatments, etc. The story is written from the author’s personal experiences. Another book that’s not on your list that was super popular at one point is Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, which discusses agoraphobia.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/visit-michigan-in-ten-books/
Oooh I hadn’t heard of The Girls at 17 Swann Street, but it sounds really interesting. I have watched the film of Bernadette, and it was interesting, but I wasn’t sure I’d want to spend a whole book with that story. It was a little hard to take, but that might just be me and my own headspace! Thank you for sharing!
I just read a romance that would fit well in this topic, Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. Both characters are neurodivergent. I also read The Way I Am Now by Amber Smith that had mental health aspects to it. Great topic!
Oh wow, those both sound very interesting! I’ll be looking into getting my hands on those. Thank you for sharing and for the recommendation!!
Great idea for a list. I read a bit of this topic last year after a friend lent me “Rachel’s Holiday” by Marion Keyes. It’s about a woman in denial about her substance abuse problems.
What did you think of it? I’ve not read Marian Keyes before, but I feel like her books are always around, and keep meaning to give her a go. Would that be a good one to start with, do you reckon?
This is a great list, thank you for sharing! I’ve read a few of the memoirs and graphic accounts you listed, but I haven’t done a whole lot of reading on the topic other than that. You’re right, though, the human brain is fascinating.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/08/22/top-ten-tuesday-urban-fantasy-thats-not-secretly-pnr/
I’m glad you found it interesting! I really enjoy graphic memoirs for this subject, because I find it can make it a little easier to take in and digest, particularly when it’s pretty intense content. It also humanizes it and makes it have more of… well, more of a FEEL to it, if that makes sense! It really is fascinating!
I love Jenny Lawson, she’s so funny and honest. I’m going to have to look into the rest of these now, too.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Oh I completely agree! She helped me so much when I was in the thick of it, and made me feel like no matter how bad things were, maybe, just maybe, it would be okay. If you enjoy Jenny Lawson you might also like My Mess Is a Bit of a Life – I think the author is a comedian, so it has a similar kind of dark/cockeyed humour to it. It’s also divided into short little vignettes, so really easy to get through quickly!
An important list, I think.
Agreed. I have learned so much from these, and hope to continue finding more books I can learn from!