Can anyone recommend some books that deal with mental health or have characters that get sent to a mental hospital? Thanks!
Can anyone recommend some books that deal with mental health or have characters that get sent to a mental hospital? Thanks!
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Perks of Being a Wallflower
Thank you! I’m reading that one in class currently
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
I’m currently reading this and it’s amazing
Veronika decides to die – Paulo Coelho
Thank you
The Ballroom by Anna Hope or The Eye of the Reindeer by Eva Weaver. Both excellent historical fiction reads.
Thank you! ?
@Ellis You’re welcome. ?
Awakenings by Dr.Oliver Sacks
Thanks
The power of now
I need your review about this book please. Is it worth reading and spending the time ?? I bought this book with some others but haven’t yet read this book.
Yes, of course, it is a lesson, a research included in it, it may change the way you estimate the value of time, especially a non existing future time, and the past.
Totally worth it, you won’t regret reading it
@Mekdes Thanks.
@Raul Thanks.
Disappointments, and suffering symptoms of depression have to do with the already gone past, hence this book teaches us on how to get rid of the past, and be conscious of the present time.
I also read that category a lot, try the unquiet grave by Sharyn mccrumb, letter to sister benedicta by Rose Tremain, Alias grace by Margaret Atwood, As we are now by May Sarton
Thank you! I will!
Also the bell jar by Sylvia Plath, Eleanor oliphant is completely fine by Gail honeyman, and my favorite is The secret scripture by Sebastian Barry, don’t miss that.
Girl, Interrupted, a memoir by Susanna Kaysen
We need to talk about Kevin..?
The bell jar…it’s a great read but any of Sylvia Plath’s books of poems have overtones of mental health themes. I haven’t read her journals but I’d imagine they’d be the same.
One flew over the coocoo’s nest.
‘Tuesdays are just as bad” by Cethan Leahy.
I just finished it this morning, it’s YA but approaches mental ill health in a really novel way.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Running with scissors
All the Bright Places
Makes me cry whenever I read it
@Ryan same ?
I’m rereading it rn bc I have nothing else to do while resting my knee
Human traces
Mental health professional here! So, I will only suggest books that I’ve found (reasonably) accurate and enjoyable. Many are ones I recommend to other mental health professionals, but they’re all enjoyable reads.
The boy who was raised as a dog, by Bruce Perry. All about the impact of childhood trauma on mental health. True stories, very readable.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – a classic work of fiction, from the days when people were more institutionalized than they are now.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – another story at heart about trauma. It was a fantastic read although I don’t think my emotional responses were the ones that were intended for readers
Creatures of a Day by Irvin Yalom – or many of his other writings too. Beautiful writer, and a highly respected Psychiatrist. He writes about his cases.
Madness Made Me by Mary O’Hagan. Her experiences of madness. She’s an incredible speaker and advocate.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, or petty much anything else by Oliver Sacks. Classics. He passed away not too long ago.
Inside the O’Briens. About Huntington’s.
There are so many more!
Thank you this is very helpful! I’m writing a novel that has mental health themes in it and want to see how other authors have portrayed mentally ill characters. As you’re a mental health professional, I’m curious of you’re opinion on mental health being written about a fictional based book that isn’t set in a normal world.
@Ellis no worries! Hmm. I think that it would be very difficult to write a story where characters go through difficult times that doesn’t have a mental health component. The key thing to understand is that people’s emotional responses generally make sense if we know enough context.
If you put someone through trauma for example, then a trauma response is hardly unexpected. Mental illness is part of the spectrum of human experience, even though it is often deeply distressing and can be lethal.
It’s really important to portray mental health difficulties respectfully. I think the two that you might find most helpful are Madness Made Me and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog.
Feel free to inbox me if you want to chat about mental health in writing 🙂
Thank you this is really helpful! The book I’m writing is magical realism so the situations are realistic but with a twist of magic to it. The main causes as to why the MC develops mental illnesses is because of parental abuse, deaths and a car crash.
@Ellis ahhhhhh. Trauma! Yep, definitely what I was thinking, especially Bruce Perry 🙂
Really good idea to read up on trauma.
Look up Babette Rothschild too 🙂
Thanks
Great suggestions! I’ve read almost all of those and will add the rest to my list.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A boy called it
Shutter Island
Saw the movie. So disturbing!
https://www.amazon.com.au/Sheltered-Dennis-J-Pale/dp/1480040991
Flowers for Algernon but I’ll warn you it’s sad
One of my favorite books!
Turtles all the way down
I never promised you a rose garden
archangels shadows xx
Planet Tun by Sierra Ayonnie. This book is by indie author.
Girl in Pieces.
Although I’ll add a trigger warning for self-harm, substance abuse and suicide.
I never promised you a rose garden.
An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamieson.
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Girl, interrupted.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beautiful boy. Heartbreaking. I’ve read it twice.
Who’s the author? Nick hornby?
@Henrietta omg sorry, beautiful boy, by David Sheff.
Thanks.?
Fangirl
LOVE THAT BOOK! I read when I was at camp last month at it was amazing! One of my favourite
I read it a few months ago and loved it so much. I just started Carry On, but I don’t know how I feel about it yet.
waiting to read it but hopefully soon
Veronika decides to die
Bell jar.
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale.
The dead house is a creepy story that also tackles split personality
Yes! I’ve been trying to find a book that handles split/multiple personalities
The Three Faces of Eve and Sybil for multiple personalities.
The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward. It’s an older book but a chilling account of mental illness. Its subsequent movie brought mental health and mental institutions to public awareness in a way that nothing else had at the time.
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
Two YA books: Tutles all the way down (Green) and Finding Audrey ( Kinsella) – a favorite!
If you’re looking for something more modern, then Turtle’s All The Way Down should do
Brain on fire
Blackout by Lisa Unger,
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The girl on the train
The hospital by barbara o’hare
Will There Really Be Morning by Frances Farmer about her time in a mental institution in the 40s.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Carrie fishers books in general are great i think post cards from the edge was great
It’s kind of a funny story involves a kid actually going to a mental hospital and it’s veryyyyy good ❤️
Girl, Interrupted
Girl, interrupted
But Inside I’m Screaming by Elizabeth Flock
Blue Asylum
She’s come undone
“ Wally Lamb”
I just corrected the title. It’s been along time since I’ve read it and I don’t have the hard copy anymore.
Great book. Also S2ally Lamb wrote a book called I Know This Much is True about twins where on is a schizophrenic. Another fantastic read.
@Claire love that book! A coworker loaned it to me and I think everyone who was a reader read that book.
Poor book was falling apart.
Cindy M. Snider I have identical twins so it really hit home to me. I always buy extra copies and pass it on to friends. I do the same with the book The Shack
Madness, by Marya Hornbacher, is a must read if you want to read about someone with Bipolar 1 disorder.
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
Manic: A Memoir by Terri Cheney, Marbles, Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Fomey, Silver Linings Playbook by Mattew Quick, Girl, Interupted by Susanna Kaysen
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock I have read this book multiple times, and love it. It deals with so much, and is such a great story. Although the vocab is not the highest, the messages are.
Thank you! This is on my TBR pile!
The Butterfly Ward by Margaret Gibson
The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller
Slackjaw by Jim Knipfel
Prozac nation
13 reasons why, last night i sang to the monster by Benjamin Alire saenz, Speak or wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, I was Here by Gayle Forman, The Pact by Jodi Picoult, Turtles all the way down !
Thank you!
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
The Bell Jar.
Tell me your dreams is a fiction novel with mental health and hospitals.
The Night I Disappeared by Julie Reece Deaver. It’s a YA novel, but really good.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Backman.
“Slated” by Teri Terry and “The Program” by Suzanne Young. Both are sad, but very good!
A Boy called It
This book has emotionally scarred me. I can barely comprehend it
Winter Girls
I Loved that book!! ❤️
Nervous Conditions
Almost anything by Nicky French.
The Cracker Factory
Crazy and Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan. Dancing on Broken Glass by Ka Hancock.
I’m just throwing this out there…Don’t know specifics, but it’s on my book club’s future list: No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers.
Catcher in the rye!!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Poison princess- an apocalypse, special powers, love story, but most of the mental hospital stuff was from b4 which she brings up every so often
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
PLOT/SUMMARY:
———————————————
A story about a girl who’s sick but has no known diagnosis. So the girl’s mom has her isolated inside, with no contact of the outside. However, the girl meets a boy who just moved in next door, and has… secret, amazing adventures with him. (Didn’t want to give spoilers) ?
Ooh loved Everything, Everything! Made me cry
My Daylight Monsters (by Sarah Dalton)
I never promised you a rose garden and A Beautiful Mind. both are true stories
One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest was one of my favorites. There is Girl Interrupted (never read) and that’s a true story, I have read one called The Quiet Room about a woman with one of the worst cases of Schizophrenia again a true story and thankfully a happy ending as she does get a handle on her disorder but it took a long time to get there.
That’s one of my faves!! The Quiet Room is a great read!
The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller ?
I read it for my Abnormal Psych class!
An Unquiet Mind – Kay Redfield Jamison
Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So: A Memoir by Mark Vonnegut, MD (Kurt’s son). Great book & it wins my award for best title 🙂
I don’t know if you’re looking for nonfiction, but The Noonday Demon is a great read.
Gary Sites I agree.
The perks of being a wallflower
One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest
Sybil. Does anyone remember “The Bad Seed”? about a psychopath?
Both
Following
The book of List things
* lost
I think my sister has that book. Thanks
A Child Called It (it’s a series by Dave Pelzer) it deals with childhood abuse and going through the foster care system and in the end, how he comes out of it all as an adult. It’s fantastic but very sad).
A Fractured Mind. It’s very quirky and about this guy’s struggle with split personality disorder. He actually has chapters dedicated to each personality and it’s a very interesting read.
The Gilded Razor. A guy’s struggle with drug addiction and mental illness. He goes to rehabs and mental hospitals and eventually gets through it all.
All are true stories. Well written too 🙂
I also forgot to mention Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon. Excellent book.
Brain on Fire’s the first one that comes to mind.