Non-fictions that helped me through my anxiety/depression journey
If i’m being honest, I’ve only started to read more non-fiction about two years ago- when I realized how much broader the genre was than I first realized. This soon became a favorite of mine; those focusing on mental health, either solely about the author’s personal experiences or mixed with scientific researchs.
Related; Let’s talk non-fiction
Reasons to stay Alive / Notes on a nervous planet, Matt Haig
His books were mainly my start; It’s mainly about Haig’s personal experience aswell as a few theories here and there.. but he made me realize that the delusions I thought was abnormal, was in fact a regular normal symptom of the condition.
Hello I wanna die please fix me, Anna Mehler Paperny
This one is in 2-parts; first we see her experience in a psych ward, and after that we see the scientific approach of things.. which was honestly a bit depressing to know; as all the medication that we currently have were found by mistake and intended for something else. She also gives more ways beyond medication that can be used in “harder” cases, one of which is quite experimental and far-fetched if you asks me..
First, we make the beast beautiful, Sarah Wilson
Among sharing her coping mechanism and researchs, the purpose of this one is inclined to be more in acceptance of the illness- making it a bit easier into coping and living with it.
Thoses were the ones that I had gottent through so far; Ofcourse I have it more on my list that I wanna get to eventually, and i’m always on the lookout for more!
Have you read theses?
Do you have more titles that I should read about that?
I have been looking for good self help books to read this year! Anxiety is something I go through as well and these titles seem good! Will definitely read them! Great post! 🤗❤️❤️
Ah wonderful!
Happy that I could help xx
🤗🤗❤️
Thank you for sharing these. I haven’t read any self-help books in a while but it would probably be a good idea to try. I suffered with depression years ago and found them useful then. These days, it tends to be anxiety. I’ve got Matt Haig’s Midnight Libray on my TBR pile and follow him on Twitter, so I might look into those books you mentioned. I think it’s just reassuring to read the experiences of others and know that you’re not alone.
Yes! I find it so comforting, and you can pick up on other’s coping ways too- iknow upon reading I sent a couple to my friend that was also in a worst state than mine (and unlike me, he wasn’t on meds) to try to help. Knowing more about the illness also help not being scared of it in a way? I treat it more like an annoying uncle whenever it flares up rather than being scared of being anxious (which is much better! In the later case you panic about the panic ans well.. have fun with that 🙃 never ending)
Self-help books are all over the place! I rarely look for them, but when I find one it usually does help me. When I want to read non-fiction to help me I actually benefit more from reading history books because I feel I am learning and my brain is growing. It’s important to me to know the past, even small events, because I understand these events made us the society we are now.
This is a great post!
Yeah I can see it, it makes sense!
History is just one genre that I can’t 😅 i’m the opposite and it doesn’t go well with me at all.. which is sad as i’ve seen a new release involving the titanic that looked really good!! But im not sure I wanna tempt it ahah
Thank you!
I haven’t heard of these particular ones before, but one that I always found incredibly helpful was “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar” by Cheryl Strayed. It’s not necessarily a typical self-help book, but it helped me greatly.
Ah I haven’t heard of that one! Ive added it onto the list, thank you!