Hello readers,
One summer afternoon in Mumbai, we sat around a table. We were discussing an intensely personal story that a writer in our group had just written – a draft that would become a best selling memory about mental health.
Hearing that story gave us the courage to bring up our own struggles: growing up with a bipolar parent, raising a child with anxiety. Because this is what mental health books do: They help you understand yourself and others. They tell you that you are not alone. They offer techniques for coping with anxiety, anger, sadness, and grief.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the perfect time to recommend these seven powerful mental health books. Also to introduce you to Bijal Shah, the practitioner of an unusual profession: bibliotherapy, or prescribing books as therapy. But first, the books.
Must Read: Book 1 of 7
The talented Lori Gottlieb starts out as a screenwriter and then becomes a doctor at Stanford School of Medicine, eventually choosing to become a therapist. In these memoirs, she talks about her patients and weaves in her mental health journey as well. maybe you should talk to someone it is ironic and self-critical and raises problems with which we all identify.
A boy grows up with a manic depressive mother in this brilliantly written novel based on real life. The boy, his older sister, and his stoic father care for the mother, a fiery, flamboyant figure who talks about everything from sex to her own madness. I liked Em and the Big Hoom for the power of his ideas, for his witty conversations and for his dark humor. A companion book to this story of a mentally ill father is Polite by Tara Westover, also highly recommended.
To truly plumb the dark depths of the human condition, go straight to the Russian classics. The most vivid of them is Crime and Punishment. Because no one despairs as brilliantly as Dostoevsky. Consider, for example, this description in the student’s novel Raskolnikov: it details an anxiety with which we are all too familiar.
“For some time now, he had been in an irritable and overloaded state, bordering on hypochondria. He had become so completely self-absorbed and isolated from his companions that he was afraid to meet, not just his landlady, but anyone.”
Must Read: Book 4 of 7
the bell jar It is the only novel written by the poet Sylvia Plath. The story mirrors Plath’s life, as the protagonist’s descent into mental illness parallels Plath’s own experience. It’s dark and haunting and raises questions about the connection between genius and madness. To learn more about this, read the intriguing A madman dreams of Turing machines.
Must Read: Book 5 of 7
Fifteen-year-old Christopher is autistic and shows us our world through his eyes, with its claustrophobic crowds and crazed clamor. The Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight by Mark Haddon is simple yet unusual. Since then, its phenomenal success has spawned a whole genre of psychological mysteries with unconventional storytellers, such as the best-selling The Silent Patient.
Must Read: Book 6 of 7
Eleanor Oliphant is not like other people. She can’t tell white lies, she has fewer social needs than the average human being. If you met a woman like her in real life, you would probably hate her. But after reading this feel-good novel told from her point of view, she begins to empathize and understand that Eleanor is not so strange after all. In fact, Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. also read woman convenience store Y a man named ove.
This is a book that I have seen unfold chapter by chapter, as the author and I have been part of the same group of writers. What I like the most are the three threads that intertwine in this book. The first is Aparna Piramal Raje’s own story, an alumna of Oxford University and Harvard Business School and mother of two boys, until she was affected by bipolar disorder. The second is the research and resources of the book. The third is the poems that are sprinkled throughout the text. The three come together to make Chemist Khichdi an absorbing, inspiring and very practical book.
From books on therapy to books as therapy, here’s London-based bibliotherapist Bijal Shah, who recommends books as therapy. Edited excerpts from our conversation:
1. What is bibliotherapy?
The earliest origins of book therapy or bibliotherapy can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who built libraries containing educational and entertaining books. Aristotle’s literature was considered medicine for the soul. In the early 19th century, doctors prescribed books to relieve suffering. Soldiers who participated in World War I read to deal with postwar trauma. In the late 1960s, poetry therapy emerged as a form of bibliotherapy.
2. How did you get into book therapy?
In 2017, while on maternity leave with my firstborn, I built a database of books and wrote several essays on literature and therapy. By this time he had completed a part-time diploma in psychodynamic counseling and psychotherapy. And then, when my husband was offered an international assignment in San Francisco, I left my job at Deutsche Bank in London and launched Book Therapy, a book preservation and bibliotherapy service.
3. How can reading help with anxiety and depression?
Reading exercises the mind, deepens empathy and forces us to slow down, thus managing anxiety and depression. From the perspective of bibliotherapy, reading offers us an excellent coping mechanism: the right book for a specific situation can calm us down, calm us down and heal us. Reading also helps us stay present to the page and the words, which, like mindfulness, promote a sense of calm, clarity, and peace, especially when navigating anxiety, depression, or a stressful situation.
4. Any advice for people who are too eager to read?
one. Practice mindful reading: Reading is a form of meditation, an invitation to completely lose your mind and soul in the narrative and the story, as you connect with the text and the author. Allow yourself to relax and enjoy the words on the page.
two. keep a book diary: As you read, you may find that literature triggers unexpected thoughts or feelings. Use these literary messages to reflect and process and maybe even take them to a therapist or coach.
3. Find a reading partner: Reading together or discussing literature with a partner, friend, or fellow book club reestablishes this connection and requires us to engage in reading, which nurtures our mental well-being.
5. What is a good way to choose the right book for book therapy?
I would say ask yourself what you need.
Do you need connection, do you need to read about someone else who is going through the same thing as you? Need some escapism as a break from the present? Or maybe you need to fantasize so you can get away from the difficult feelings you’re going through now for a little while, so that when you come back you’ve had a good mental break and can think more clearly.
Look at what you need most at the moment and choose a book that satisfies it, for example, a protagonist whose story is similar to your own or fantasy fiction, or an author whose work you tend to connect with or enjoy.
6. Finally, what are your 5 favorite books on mental health?
The body keeps score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, where to draw the line by Anne Katherine – a very helpful book on setting limits. The Beast: A Journey Through Depression by Tracy Thompson. ambiguous loss by Pauline Boss. On the subject of shame, two of my favorite books are i thought it was just me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame by Brené Brown and Healing the shame that binds you by John Bradshaw.
That’s all the reading for now. Next week I’m traveling to New York to visit a very special independent bookstore and check out five fun books that capture the New York vibe.
Until then, happy reading!
Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially selected books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading requests or a suggestion or two on how to improve this book newsletter, please write to [email protected]
The opinions expressed are personal.
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