Inspiring Books on Mental Illness

Books carry interesting pieces of realism and clarity, so much that they have helped us overcome many various obstacles as individuals. While great fiction does often show us some of the root themes and concepts of the human intellect, so few books seem to identify how to remedy certain aspects of the degraded mind. In a world full of memoirs, self-help books, and encouraging stories of all kinds, mental health has been bogged down by the more prominent concerns of entertainment — making any of its titles increasing laborious to find.

Some of the most prominent and inspiring books deal with mental health in ways unfathomable. Especially for such things as depression, eating disorders, and drug addictions, books have given us valuable insights into a myriad of different mental illnesses and have shown us how to cope with a certain number of them, or at least how to live a normal life, in control. The following inspiring books on mental illness bring out a more conducive look into the idea of strengthening our mental health by ways of looking at the issue in a more highlighted format, thereby attacking it whether through force or action. Break the chains and take control of your demons by reading any of the following inspiring books on mental illness.

Published a decade ago, Michael Singer's The Untethered Soul captures the essence of self-identification and exponentially builds upon the concepts of serenity and peace in conjunction with our own concussions on the self.

Not only one of the most interesting in the inspiring books on mental illness, but every audience feeling of broadened accomplishment, as well as a newfound sense of composure, not only with the self but with everything in life. It almost feels like a dualistic spiritual and emotional cleanse in which all the negative energies you have associated with yourself are completely depleted by you alone.

Placing you into the mind of a prisoner, a prisoner of the Holocaust no less, Viktor Frankl examines the breaking psychological makeups in all of his fellow inmates, then goes about devising a series of therapeutic self-tests in order for them all to gain clarity and right of mind amidst one of the world's most horrifying scenes in history.

The experiences retold in Man's Search for Meaning alone are enough to give relevance to its superiority among inspiring books on mental illness. The gruesome displays of horror made by Frankl in his retelling of the concentration camps and their suffering is truly remarkable given what is exemplified throughout the book: constant positive consideration.

As one of the most prominent of all inspiring books on mental illness, An Unquiet Mind delves into the complexities apparent within manic depression and bipolar disorder. Kay Redfield Jamison's descent into an uncontrollable and violent mental displacement gave her a lifelong journey of recapturing that self-identifying factor later apparent in her dark quest. This she would unfold into her own form of treatment, now a major part of her insightful work in psychological medicine.

Kay's personal flight through bipolar and manic depression allowed her to become a voice in the form of this book, for which is internationally acclaimed and is remarkably informative on mental health in general, not just bipolar disorder or depression.

Driven to Distraction is one of the most inspiring books on mental illness, because it adheres to the nature of ADD and ADHD, for which the pharmaceutical community has used in the monopolization of what are called 'study drugs,' like Vyvanse and Adderall. Designing the work with a myriad of different stories that depict the hyperactive qualities apparent in those with ADD, and the subsequent stimulation needed in reducing these signs.

In the closing few statements, readers can see just how powerful these studies were on the two individuals who wrote it, John Ratey and Edward Halllowell. By way of detailing a number of varied processes in subduing signs of ADD, the two neurologists devise concise understandings and potential routes around the effects of ADD and ADHD on the sufferer's mind.

Rather than directly examining any sort of mainstream mental health issue, Horner's Being and Loving takes a literal step back so as to purview the ideology of human relationship in conjunction with psychology. As one among the mind expanding and inspiring books on mental illness, Being and Loving does not disappoint. Inciting not only a host of life lessons and mental health remedies, Horner undergoes a strict identification into the psychological makeup of human connectivity and its deeper connotations with our daily ways of life.

Interesting, thought provoking, and ultimately mesmerizing, this mental health classic gives readers a new way of looking into their connections, whether they be social, spiritual, or deeply emotional, and it gives us a host of considerations into the ways in which we must treat others acutely. Though it may not pertain directly to a mental health issue, at its core is mental health and the rational of making our world a better place for not just the individual psyche, but for the collective entirely.

With a title as thought provoking and thematic as Furiously Happy, it's not hard to see how Jenny Lawson's entrancing book on mental illness, specifically hysteria, truly encapsulate the premise so apparent in all of the inspiring books on mental illness: overcoming the control of your mental debilitation.

Jenny Lawson's book identifies how depression can feel like rage, considering a multitude of varied concepts in making oneself well again by way of looking at the problem in a more precise sense of who is ultimately in control (that would be you). That's right, it's a self-conductive process, and neither drugs nor outward assistance is otherwise needed, other than Lawson's phenomenal Furiously Happy. Instead of balling your eyes out for no reason, give this book a whirl for some roller coaster rides of emotion, insight, and virtue, all of which engineer positive mental health.

Instead of dealing out the typical, yet boring quality study of depression and its ultimate grip on the mind, Andrew Solomon decided to analyze the way depression has been viewed in a number of different mediums, such as literature, psychology, history, art, and more. From the various concepts that he drew forth, Solomon steers his investigations into exposing the truth about depression, one that has been widely misconstrued in a number of different capacities.

A particular bestseller in the inspiring books on mental illness, Andrew Solomon's insight into the nature and identity of depression brought about a fundamental conclusion of what treatment should look like in sufferers of depression. The New York Times even published an excerpt from The Noonday Demon.

One of the least-discussed mental conditions, OCD, oftentimes gets ignored for its seemingly harmless conditions. However, this is far from the case, as with any mental illnesses there is a host of personal and outward pressures for which the sufferer must endure. David Adam unearths some of the shit that nobody tells you about having OCD in this 2014 classic, for which blends science with personal history in denoting the precepts of OCD treatment.

The Man Who Couldn't Stop is another one of these inspiring books on mental illness, for it doesn't end on a hopeful pretext, or ranging positive questions. Instead, Adam portrays an insightful self-discovery story that can bring solace to OCD sufferers everywhere, giving them profound hope and, ultimately, a newfound meaning in the contemporary sciences.

Truly a must read in this list of inspiring books on mental illness, Jasmine Warga's My Heart and Other Black Holes personifies suicide and suicidal tendencies through the 16-year-old character of Ayesi, whose love for the genre of physics only dwindles as her complex set of feelings steer her closer and closer to the self-satisfying end.

Weighted with emotion and disturbing inner themes, Warga's novel does well in evoking some of the most important realities associated with suicide and suicidal thought processes, giving a pure realism to one of the most anguishing and deteriorating phenomenon known to mankind. The idea of murdering the self is very much challenged in this book, giving life to the pressures and deeply sorrowful considerations one must have to make internally as that final straw is met — or hopefully ignored.

Actress Portia de Rossi identifies some of the many concerns surrounding the world of eating disorders, specifically calling upon her own history in the Hollywood as a way of moving the issues along in a thoughtful way. Blending history with personal experience, Rossi displays how anorexia kills in many more ways than simply a physical one.

Unbearable Lightness is an exceptional addition among these inspiring books on mental illness, because it helps to bring about awareness and dialogue into the ranging issues surrounding bulimia, anorexia, and eating disorders in general. A great part of the Hollywood scene, in addition to both modeling and gymnastics, deals with conserving one's weight gain, maintaining a beautiful appearance at all times, and consistently keeping track of food intake. Rossi directly challenges these very concepts and perceptively adapts how women are commonly viewed in such areas, while also rectifying the misconceptions of eating disorders.

Drug addiction is another seemingly forgotten concept when it comes to mental illnesses, yet it is one of the most important perceptions of note when it comes to the ways in which pharmaceutical companies currently pray upon the weak and unstable. In Nic Sheff's Tweak, much of the challenges in dealing with methamphetamine addiction is shown through the life of an addict with detailed accuracy and overall meaning.

As final addition in the inspiring books on mental illness, Tweak adheres in bringing the most destitute of lives back from the grave. While living this life of depravity, Sheff learned much more about himself and the powerful qualities of existence, for which he periodically mentions throughout the book as molding parameters for which made him who he is today.