Books Shaping Mental Health Awareness
After nearly three months of quarantine, mental health has been at the forefront of my mind. As something that I have personally struggled with for most of my life and been acutely aware of the systemic failings that surround and perpetuate it, it’s no surprise that a national health pandemic would throw this issue into stark relief, especially as we are isolated and surrounded by mass amounts of grief. Below are five amazing recent books that focus on mental health in both mindful and compassionate ways. Complex, ambiguous to the outside, and often misunderstood, we still have a long way to go to create fully supportive environments and treatment for those that suffer from mental health disorders, but for now, meaningful discussions and reporting are leading the way. Take a look below and check out our full list on our website for all our recommendations.
written by Colleen Callery
The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
This is a fascinating look at a famous study that went behind the closed doors of mental health facilities. In the 60s, a well-known psychology professor and several volunteers admitted themselves to various institutions (à la Nellie Bly) around the country to investigate not only the conditions, but test the consistency of diagnosis and treatment. Their findings made huge waves and changed the course of mental health diagnosis and treatment forever. If anything, this story proves how far we have come in understanding and caring for those who don’t fit neatly inside societal norms, but it also illuminates just how much further we have to go.
Odes to Lithium by Shira Erlichman
There are few books that are as raw and tender as Odes to Lithium. Written as love letters to the drug common in bipolar treatment, Erlichman explores her relationship with treatment, hospitalization, and the friends and family who shaped her experience with mental illness (and wellness). At a time when physical and mental health is at the forefront of our minds, Odes to Lithium is an entryway for readers to access the deeper aspects of ourselves, to reject shame about the ways our bodies fail us, and celebrate the ways we can continue to show up for ourselves —even if it is a fraught relationship. This collection is inspiring, radiating nuance and wisdom.
The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang
These essays changed so much about how I understand schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. Here’s the big takeaway, we still know so. little. There isn’t even an agreed upon set of symptoms. In fact, this is a huge (and problematic) theme throughout the history of mental health care. Wang is deliberate and bold in her indictment of the stigma and abuse so many have suffered at the hands of the misinformed, the well-intentioned, and the down-right cruel practices and procedures that have defined so many people’s experiences with mental health treatment. This is a new classic, and marks the beginning of a new canon of mental health literature.
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
Of the Galvin’s twelve children, six had been diagnosed with schizophrenia by the 1970s. Kolker's chronicle of the family's struggle, the individual experiences, and the concurrent investigations into the causes of the disorder is moving, profound, and endlessly compelling. The Galvin’s were one of the first families studied by the National Institute of Mental Health and informed years of genetic research into the causes and treatment of schizophrenia. Their story gives us a look into the dark history of the disorder and the trauma that living with such an illness can cause, and provides many important moments of reflection about the future of mental health care.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (forthcoming September 8, 2020)
I love Yaa Gyasi’s writing so much and have been waiting for her sophomore novel for years. Her depth and astute range of emotion this time focuses on a Ghanaian neuroscience student at Stanford studying addiction. After losing her brother to an opioid addiction, and her mother falls into a deep depression, Gifty’s faith is broken. She turns to science for answers, searching for some glimmer of hope among the neural pathways of mice. Gyasi’s portrayal of depression and addiction is painful, and real, and shows how deeply insidious these conditions can be, especially when compounded by the pressures of anti-blackness and immigrant life in Alabama. This book isn’t out until early Fall this year, but put it on your calendar, it will be worth the wait!
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