*Light-Hearted* + Relatable Mental Health Books

Light-Hearted + Relatable Mental Health Books

One thing I’ve learned through being open about my mental health journey is that it really helps feeling like you can relate to others. When you connect with a story, it can help you to feel heard + even give you the strength to share your own story or seek guidance.

When I read It’s Kind of a Funny Story, I felt this connection, as the author was describing situations I go through or thoughts I have but was never able to put into words myself — one of the characters even took the same medication I was on. Reading about mental health in a *light-hearted* way helped me to come to terms that it’s okay to feel this way ++ most importantly — other people feel the same way I do.

While you can find guidance + connection in self-help style books, but sometimes, these books can be too close to home + do more harm than good. The books below talk about sensitive, but important topics including anxiety, depression, suicide, addiction, + even spirituality, but in a way that’s easier to understand + relate to. You aren’t given advice or extreme details about mental illnesses, but instead, you can get a first-hand look at what it’s like to live with one:

#1] Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern

#2] Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

#3] What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan

#4] Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

#5] How God Changes Your Brain by Andrew B. Newberg, Mark Robert Waldman

#6] Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

#7] Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

#8] Marbles by Ellen Forney

If you’re looking for more memoirs on anxiety + depression similar to It’s Kind of a Funny Story, check out On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Petersen + these other books.

If you find yourself relating to a character or story in the books, we encourage you to talk about the experience with someone. For ways that you can support someone [+ ask for help] through mental health, check out this post.

Have you related to a book dealing with mental health + want to share it with others? Let us know in the comments below or by tagging @CHAARG + #CHAARGBookClub on insta!