5 Mental Health Conditions I’d Like to See Represented in YA Books

Spreading awareness about mental health is something I am incredibly passionate about. I have to say, I’m SO PROUD of how far society has come. Looking back on even the last 5 years, I feel we’ve made such progress in our understanding and I want us to continue fighting ignorance in 2018! This week is Mental Health Awareness Week so to do my part, I’ve got a topical blog post for you today.

In the last few years, publishers have been producing more and more intelligent and positive YA books featuring mental health which makes my heart SUPER HAPPY. If you’re looking for a book on depression, for instance, they’re pretty easy to find and you have a number to choose from. There are also quite a few books on bipolar disorder and eating disorders – even generalised anxiety disorder, which I had previously struggled to find any books on whatsoever (even when I was actively searching for them!), has now been spotlighted in some fabulous novels.

YA Book Recs: Novels that Respect Mental Illness

Hello, everyone! This week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂 Today I’m welcoming Cristina to the blog!

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Hello, readers! I’m Cristina and I’ve popped over from my YA book blog Girl in the Pages to chat with you today. I’m going to be focusing on YA book recommendations that portray mental illness in a way that is respectful, insightful, and engaging. While it’s great that mental illness is becoming a more prevalent theme in YA, it’s also too often used as merely a plot device or perpetuates stereotypes, doing more harm than good. Finding authors who provide the needed research to effectively write about mental illness as major themes in their books is important not only to bring awareness to the conditions, but to set a standard for the integrity of including such themes in books. I’ve chosen to focus on three major mental illnesses that have novels that portray them with research, respect, insightfulness, and when appropriate, creativity.

Pop Culture & Mental Health: Fiction vs Reality

Hello, everyone! This week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂 Today I’m welcoming Hattie to the blog!

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Hello, all! My name’s Hattie, and I’m usually found writing over at The Anxious Girl’s Guide to Dating, my advice blog. I am so honored to be taking part in Blogs of a Bookaholic’s mental health week. As a fellow tea-drinker and book lover, I’m thrilled to be here. Becky is seriously so lovely, right? And while I’m a huge fan of books in general, I’m also a huge fan of open dialogue about mental health soo I think I’ve found my blogging soulmate.

Anxiety has been a constant companion of mine since childhood and depression likes to pop his head in the door every once in a while too. Mental health is one of those interesting topics that seems to be everywhere and yet still is a challenge for a lot of people to talk about. For me, my anxiety reached a tipping point when I tried to start dating in my late teens (then early twenties, then mid-twenties…I was a late bloomer). 

Things We’re Tired of Seeing in Books About Mental Health

Hello, everyone! This week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂 Today I’m welcoming Leah to the blog!

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Hi readers of Becky’s blog, my name is Leah and I’m usually found hanging out over at Perks of Being a Bookworm, thank you, Becky for letting me guest on your blog today!

As you might have noticed, this week Becky has been featuring lots of bloggers talking about various different topics within mental health for Mental Health Awareness Week, being someone who has been mentally unwell on several occasions I do love coming across books that feature mental health as a subject. You know how it is, it’s great to see yourself in the mediums you consume. It helps when you feel you belong and there are loads of great books that deal with mental health fabulously. However, there are also a lot of tropes that I, for one, am very bored of seeing, so here is a plea to writers everywhere, please avoid the following things!

Mental Health & the Importance of Reading

Hello, everyone! This week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂 Today I’m welcoming Charlotte to the blog!

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Hello everyone, I’m Charlotte and normally I can be found ranting and raving over at Miscrawl about books and life!

Oh mental health, how to write about thee? After much thought, I realized that the best way would be to (very loosely) tell my own story. Strap yourselves in; there be talk of depression and books from here on in.

I’ve always loved books and I’ve always loved reading.

Coming from a bookish family, I learnt to read at a young age and I was never one of those children that needed entertaining with fantastical games or expensive trips out. I was perfectly content to be left alone in a quiet room with a book, my imagination running wild. I was the stereotypical image of a slightly geeky, somewhat socially inept kid who always had their nose dangerously close to inhaling musty pages.

My Top 5 Books Featuring Mental Health!

Hello, everyone! This week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂

So the first thing I want to talk about this week is some of the best fiction books I’ve read featuring mental health so far in my reading journey. There are a lot of novels about mental health out there, but only a few I’ve come across that do it well, without romanticising illness or having characters fall into certain stereotypes. It’s a difficult balance to master, but here’s five that do it well!

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Mental Health Awareness Week: My Story.

Hello, everyone! You may not be aware, but this week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂

So, it seems like a fitting place to start by sharing my mental health journey with you. This is something that previously, I have decided to gloss over on this blog. Until now, I haven’t felt comfortable discussing it. I felt embarrassed by it, ashamed even and didn’t want anyone to know except a very small select few. Mental health has a sneaky way of doing that to you, backing you into a corner, isolating you from others and blocking out any light or positivity. Something about putting it into writing has always made it feel so… final. It’s not something you can take back. It’s a scary thing to put out there, but I’m finally ready and I’m happy with who I am now.

True story: I suffer with anxiety.