10 Essential Reads For Mental Health Awareness Month
- BOOK LISTS, BOOKS & HEALTH
- May 8, 2025

May is Mental Health Awareness Month—a time to spotlight the importance of mental well-being. These 10 essential reads for Mental Health Awareness Month offer permission to pause, feel, heal, and grow. From expert insights to moving personal stories of resilience, this list is a compassionate companion for anyone seeking greater mental clarity, emotional well-being, and
READ MORE
Sleep: We all need it. You know what it’s like when you haven’t had a good night’s sleep. These 8 novels feature sleep disorders including sleep deprivation, insomnia, and sleepwalking. 1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and
READ MORE
Prepare to be intrigued—and sometimes alarmed—by these 8 books that take place in psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, mental asylums, psychiatric wards, or behavioral health hospitals. 1. The Comforts of Madness by Paul Sayer “Written while the author was working as a psychiatric nurse in Clifton Hospital in York, and drawing on his
READ MORE
Once known as “shell shock” and “combat neurosis”, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) afflicts 3.5 percent of American adults and develops after a person is exposed to a traumatic situation such as warfare. These 5 must-read novels explore PTSD through fiction. 1. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson “For the past five years,
READ MORE
These 5 must-read memoirs about bipolar disorder offer honest, brave, and insightful accounts from those whose lives have been impacted by manic depression. 1. Just Like Someone without Mental Illness, Only More So by Mark Vonnegut “Ultimately a tribute to the small, daily, and positive parts of a life interrupted by bipolar disorder, Just Like
READ MORE
Gain knowledge about the issues associated with mental health by reading these 10 novels and memoirs about mental illness. 1. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson “In Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson regaled readers with uproarious stories of her bizarre childhood. In her new book, Furiously Happy, she
READ MORE