The Christmas season can be difficult, but understanding issues such as depression, anxiety, burnout and loneliness can be an important first step to coping during difficult times, and helping others do the same. Here is a selection of books that offer clarity and insight into important areas of well-being.
Trigger warning: suicide
📚 First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A new conversation about anxiety by Sarah Wilson
📚 F**k, I think I’m Dying: How I Learned to Live With Panic by Claire Eastham
📚 A Cure for Darkness: The story of depression and how we treat it by Alex Riley
📚 The Awakened Brain: The Psychology of Spirituality and Our Search for Meaning by Lisa Miller
📚 Living While Black: The Essential Guide to Overcoming Racial Trauma by Guilaine Kinouani
📚 The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry
📚 Five Minute Therapy by Sarah Crosby
📚 When It Is Darkest: Why People Die by Suicide and What We Can Do to Prevent It by Rory O’Connor
📚 Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
📚 Heavy Light: A Journey Through Madness, Mania and Healing by Horatio Clare
📚 Aroha: Maori wisdom for a contented life lived in harmony with our planet by Hinemoa Elder
📚 The To-Do List and Other Debacles by Amy Jones
📚 A Dutiful Boy: A memoir of secrets, lies and family love by Mohsin Zaidi
📚 Losing Our Minds: What Mental Illness Really Is – and What It Isn’t by Lucy Foulkes
📚 The Confidence Solution: The essential guide to boosting self-esteem, reducing anxiety and feeling confident by Chloe Brotheridge
📚 It’s Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies): Inspirational people open up about their mental health by Scarlett Curtis
📚 Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristin Neff
📚 Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by Dr. Vivek H. Murthy
Please check out episode five on self compassion below if you need some reassurance. And please reach out to people if you feel they need support.
Check out United for Global Mental Health for further resources.