Best Mental Health Books (List)
Mental health is very important for the normal functioning of an individual.
It is considered a very significant part of an individual’s overall well-being, therefore it is very important to take care of mental health.
This blog mentions some of the best mental health books for you to read.
Activities like Mental health games and books not only help you promote your mental health but give answers to your questions related to mental health.
Before we move on to the best mental health books, let’s find out what mental health actually is.
What is Mental Health?
Mental health is referred to as the overall well-being of an individual. Mental health it’s also a condition in which the individual is free from any kind of mental illness.
It is an individual’s state who is functioning at a satisfactory level of behavioral and emotional adjustment.
Best Mental Health Books
The following are some of the best mental health books with a little description of each of them to help you guess what type of content the book contains and which topic do they address.
You can also have a look at the list of Mental health bookstores to buy the best mental health books.
1. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety, Sarah Wilson
This book is written by Sarah Wilson by keeping in mind her personal experience with chronic anxiety.
This guide shows individuals a new outlook of life with chronic anxiety.
The author of this book narrated her own history and mentioned in this book how she dealt with her anxiety.
The author relates how her anxiety management strengthened and empowered her to tackle the obstruction that came in her way.
This book is easily accessible through the Amazon store.
You can get this book from here.
2. Living Life to the Full: Key life skills to change your life- Christopher Williams
The book, Living Life to the Full: Key life skills to change your life by Christopher Williams, contains several chapters with related modules and worksheets to aid individuals in elevating their low mood and managing anxiety.
The book enables individuals to develop their own personal tool kit to promote their Mental health.
This book is easily accessible through the Amazon store. You can get this book from here.
3. We’re All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with Social Anxiety- Claire Eastham
As you can guess from the title of this book, this is a very humorous and amusing book in which the author, Claire Eastham guide individuals on how to deal with their anxiety issues.
Anxiety is experienced by a majority of people at some point in their lives.
This book explains social anxiety in detail and mentions how and why it occurs and which techniques can be used to eliminate the effects of social anxiety either at work, in their home, in the university, or any social gathering.
You can access this book from the Amazon store from here.
4. Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression — and the Unexpected Solutions- Johann Hari
At the name of the book tells, this book is based on unveiling the deep-rooted causes of depression.
The author of this book, Johann Hari explains how an individual’s cultural norms, societal norms, and expectations play a major role in causing mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety.
The author mentions his personal experiences which mental illness and gives interviews with health professionals.
The author presents a set of solutions to individuals with which they can improve their everyday lives by promoting their mental health.
You can get this book from the Amazon store from here.
5. The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health – Emeran Mayer
Empirical studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between the mind and the functioning of the gut.
In this book, the author explains in detail, with reference to different researches, how an individual’s mind and his stomach work together.
The book mentions how brain activity affects the activity of the gut such as when an individual feels nervous they feel like vomiting, similarly the book explains why an individual feels bloated when he is in distress.
The author claims that exploring the relationship between the mind and digestive system helps understand mental health illnesses such as obesity, depression, and eating disorders.
This book is best for health professionals.
This book is easily accessible through the Amazon store.
You can get it from here.
6. Pocket Guide to Psychiatric Nursing – Mary C. Townsend, Karyn I. Morgan
This is a very interesting book and especially recommended to individuals who are studying nursing or practicing nurses or even the ones who are thinking of beginning their career as psychiatric nurses.
The book explains in detail various mental disorders, the causes of those mental disorders, their symptoms, and the drugs that can be used to treat them.
It guides nurses how they can play a part in the application of the interventions for curing mental illnesses and addresses all tiny concerns of therapeutic communication.
You can get this book from the Amazon store from here.
7. The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are – Chris MacLeod MSW
Learning and applying social skills can be very helpful in treating mental illnesses and promoting mental health both personally and academically.
Identifying and understanding emotions not only help individuals succeed in their profession but also helps them become a better human.
This guide book is very useful and beneficial for individuals to help them understand the real causes of social anxiety, avoidant personality traits, add interpersonal struggles.
This book covers three main headings.
These include Mental barriers that affect communication such as self-esteem and confidence, communication and listening skills, and practical as well as effective ways of helping oneself and others for improving lives socially.
This book is easily accessible on the internet. You can access it from the Amazon store from here.
8. ‘Remember This When You’re Sad: Lessons Learned on the Road from Self-Harm to Self-Care’ by Maggy van Eijk, published by Lagom: £7.37, WHSmith
This is a very humorous book that is based on self-care.
In this book, the author mentions her own experiences with mental health illnesses such as depression, borderline personality disorder, and anxiety, to help individuals with the same illnesses acknowledge ways in which these illnesses can be cured.
9. My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
The book My Age of Anxiety has been ridden by Scott Stossel.
In this book, the writer writes about how anxiety affected him negatively by interrupting in his job interviews, sweating on his wedding day, and walking out of exams.
He also mentioned the physical problems he experienced due to anxiety.
The book mentions all the problems experienced by an anxious man add how he explored ways of dealing with anxiety and successfully managed his anxiety.
10. The Self-Care Project by Jayne Hardy
As you can get a hint from the title of the book, this book is based on self-care.
Self-care is one of the most neglected practices but a very essential one too.
Often people think that if they would practice self-care, people would think they are being mean.
Self-care is not about being mean, it is about exploring your true sense of the worth.
This book guides individuals on how to start self-care.
This book reminds individuals that self-care is as important as waking up in the morning and brushing teeth on a daily basis.
It helps individuals develop a self-care plan for themselves and work on it by realizing that self-care does not represent being mean, but actually it is the opposite of it.
Self-care helps restore body and mind of an individual.
It helps an individual to identify and manage his moods, emotions, and feelings.
What is the best self-help book for anxiety?
Some of the best self-help books for anxiety include: Presence by Amy Cuddy, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron, and The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Workbook: A Comprehensive CBT Guide for Coping with Uncertainty, Worry, and Fear by Melisa Robichaud Ph.D.
Which self-help books are best?
Among many self-help books, the following are the among the best ones:
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
- The Road Less Traveled by M Scott Peck.
Is reading good for anxiety?
Reading is very good for overcoming anxiety.
Reading not only helps distract the individual from feelings of anxiety but also develops compassion in him.
The individual emphasizes the other person’s feelings and his own.
Reading also helps an individual in the process of healing and self-growth.
It helps reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
How can I improve my mental health?
Mental health can be improved in various ways.
Some effective ways to enhance mental health include developing positive self-talk, practicing gratitude, focusing on one thing at a time by being mindful, exercising regularly, following a healthy and balanced diet, reaching out for social when needed, doing something good for others, and taking a break.
Can you ever beat anxiety?
Yes, anxiety can be beaten.
Anxiety is experienced by almost every individual in some part of his life, but if anxiety starts interfering with life by affecting the optimal functioning of the individual, disturbing the sleep cycle, reduces the ability to maintain healthy relationships with others, influences productivity at school or at work, it signals that the individual is experiencing an anxiety disorder.
However, there is nothing to worry about, anxiety can be beaten!
What do you call a person who reads a lot?
The condition in which the individual has reading books as known as bibliophilia or bibliophilism wild individual who loves reading books frequently is referred to as a bibliophile or bookworm.
This blog mentioned some of the best mental health books.
These books are worth reading and helpful in promoting mental health either by teaching some tips or enhancing problem-solving skills etcetera.
A little description of each book is also mentioned in this blog to help you select the best book to read.
If you have any queries or questions regarding this blog, let us know through your comments.
We will be glad to assist you in this regard.
References
10 Books About Mental Health You Need To Read | Hestia
32 Best Mental Health Books for Increasing Your Well-being by Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury (2020)
Coronavirus: Best self-care books to read during lockdown
6 of the Best Books to Read – Mental Health
7 of the best books to boost your mental health – Get The Gloss
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