The 32 Best Books About Mental Health
In case you haven’t noticed, our phones are a hell of a drug. From posting a new photo on IG and seeing the likes roll in, to tapping a couple buttons on Postmates to make a delicious pizza arrive at your door in 25 minutes, that instant gratification gives us little dopamine hits left right and center. In this book, psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke dives into the constant pleasure-seeking we find ourselves in, and what we can do about it.
Think of therapist Dr. Julie Smith as your mental resilience guide. She lays out some very helpful tips on dealing with anxiety, depression, and criticism, and shows you ways to build self-confidence and forgive yourself—a lil’ something we all could use if you ask me—by helping you understand how your mind works.
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Harper How to Do the Work
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Harper How to Do the Work
Listen up, ’cause Dr. Nicole LePera (aka The Holistic Psychologist) is dropping some nuggets of mental health wisdom that you don’t want to miss. With some humor sprinkled in to make things more fun, she’s teaching you how to overcome your emotional baggage, recognize your own negative patterns, and take charge of your own life. Now who wouldn’t want that?
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Penguin Life Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
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Penguin Life Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Wanna live forever?? Okay, maybe not forever, but how about longer than most people? Because this one village in Japan has one of the highest percentages of 100-year-olds in the world, and their secret is “ikigai”—each person’s purpose or reason for living. That purpose, whatever it may be, keeps these villagers feeling like they have meaning in their life, and brings joy to each day, and it can for you too.
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Waterbrook Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
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Waterbrook Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
Idk about you, but getting caught up in my head is just a constant state of being, and this book has got some pretty insightful tips to overcome it. You’ll learn to sweep away those toxic thoughts (while also laughing at all of the funny stories included in the book) and get back some peace of mind. Sounds pretty nice, no?
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That Little Voice In Your Head
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That Little Voice In Your Head
Negative self-talk can be too real sometimes, so how exactly do we fix that? Welp, we’ve got to change the way we think. It’s easier said than done, but this book breaks down how our brains work and how we can reprogram them. It’s basically your own how-to guide to help your thoughts come from a more positive place.
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I’m So Effing Tired: A Proven Plan to Beat Burnout, Boost Your Energy, and Reclaim Your Life
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I’m So Effing Tired: A Proven Plan to Beat Burnout, Boost Your Energy, and Reclaim Your Life
Now 24% Off
Never have I ever related to the title of a book more, and I think a lot of us are on the same page. Burnout is rampant and we’re all just out here grinding every day trying to get by. From eating habits to stress-management, this book tries to help you get your energy back.
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The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
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The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
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This book from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is a must-read that’ll help you understand the mental and physical effects of trauma and how it quite literally can reshape our bodies. It also explores therapeutic avenues that can help restore our capacity for happiness, trust, and self-control.
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The Courage To Be Disliked
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The Courage To Be Disliked
Being overwhelmed by thoughts of whether or not people like you is exhausting, to say the least, and this book focuses on being able to break free of other people’s expectations and move past the limitations we place on ourselves.
Books about mental health don’t all have to be self-help strategies and psychological research. This collection of poems about mental health explores anxiety, depression, and self-love in a beautiful, emotional, and relatable way.
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Who says you need to read a long, dense book about mental health to get something out of it? This book of hilarious and relatable cartoons about coping with anxiety will have you feeling like you’re commiserating with a good friend, which we all know is one of the best kinds of self-care.
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Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me
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Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me
After hitting a breaking point in her early 20s, journalist Anna Mehler Paperny decided to do what she does best: use her investigative reporting skills to find out everything she could about depression. And thanks to her quest for knowledge, we all get to benefit from this book that maps out everything from different types of therapy to the effects of medication to shortcomings in the field.
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If you ever wished you could give less f*cks in general, then this book is a must-read. Author Sarah Knight gives insightful tips that those of us whose minds constantly run through every worst case scenario and “what if” need to hear. It gets into what’s considered productive worrying and how to accept things you can’t control.
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Harmony The Highly Sensitive Person
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Harmony The Highly Sensitive Person
Now 20% Off
If you’ve heard your whole life that you’re “too sensitive” or “too shy,” then those are signs you might be a highly sensitive person. This book comes with self assessments to help you understand your own behaviors, as well as information on how to cope with overstimulation and build up your self esteem.
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
If you’re in therapy and have (as we all do) wondered what your therapist is really thinking, this book might give you some insight. Therapist Lori Gottlieb takes you through a year’s worth of sessions, clients’ problems, and her own personal life to give you an exclusive look behind the curtain.
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Don’t Believe Everything You Think
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Don’t Believe Everything You Think
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We can be our own worst enemy sometimes, saying things to ourselves that we’d never even think about saying to someone else. Learning to deal with negative thoughts and overcome them is a hard, but important, journey, and this book aims to take you on that.
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Oprah Winfrey has a mental health book? Say less! Written with Dr. Bruce D. Perry, this book dives into the idea of not always blaming ourselves or questioning our own emotions, but instead looking at the trauma we’ve endured that lead us to those reactions. Essentially, it’s a shift from wondering “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”
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I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t)
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I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t)
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If you’ve ever struggled with perfectionism, people pleasing, or anxiety about what others think, you know just how draining it can be. In this book, Brené Brown looks to show readers how to put self-criticism aside and embrace imperfections and vulnerabilities as strengths.
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Be Calm: Proven Techniques to Stop Anxiety Now
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Be Calm: Proven Techniques to Stop Anxiety Now
Now 30% Off
When you’re dealing with anxiety, it takes a lot more than telling yourself to “be calm” to actually feel calm (wouldn’t that be so nice though?!). So in this book, Dr. Jill Webber includes a range of evidence-based strategies to help reduce your anxiety in a wide variety of circumstances.
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It Didn’t Start With You
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It Didn’t Start With You
Now 30% Off
At this point, most of us know that parents can do real damage to their kids’ emotional wellbeing, but what this book explores is how it’s not even necessarily things done directly to you that can have an impact. It Didn’t Start With You gets into the concept of “inherited family trauma” and how that can affect everything from our gene expression to emotional health. Fascinating stuff!
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