Breaking silence and stigma: a reading list for mental health awareness

Mental health can be messy and is often very misunderstood. Whether you’re navigating your own mental health journey, supporting someone you love, or curious about the complexities of the human psyche, books can offer insight, solidarity and hope. And there’s nothing I love more than reading a book that makes me belly laugh and blubber one after the other, consecutively, in a row.

So here’s a curated list that brings together a range of voices from across genres and backgrounds, who offer a unique lens on a wide range of mental health conditions.

Memoirs

• Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia – Marya Hornbacher: A visceral dive into eating disorders and a woman’s decision to survive them – written by a ‘retired career anorexic’ with brutal honesty and lyrical prose.
• Mad Girl – Bryony Gordon: A darkly humorous but vulnerable account of living with OCD, addiction, and stigma. Uncomfortable, unpredictable, and refreshingly unfiltered.
• Cheer the F**K Up – Jack Rooke: A memoir slash guide to mental health, grief, and growing up queer. Hilarious and heart-rending. Read my interview with the CALM Ambassador, here.
• Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness – Catherine Cho: A harrowing story of postpartum psychosis and an involuntary stay at a psychiatric hospital. One of the few memoirs to tackle this condition head-on.
• Madness: A Bipolar Life – Marya Hornbacher: A chaotic, deeply moving follow-up to Wasted, exploring every aspect of living with bipolar disorder – much of it untreated – in unflinching detail.
• Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me – Anna Mehler Paperny: A journalist’s investigation into her own suicidal ideation and the mental health system. Funny yet compassionate – well-researched yet deeply personal.
• Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen: A classic, poignant memoir about a woman’s psychiatric hospital stay in the 60s – exploring borderline personality disorder, identity, and institutionalisation.

Non-fiction & self-help

• Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting – Terrie M. Williams: An urgent call to break the silence around Black mental health through a searing personal account, unfiltered cultural critique and a guide to finding relief.
• The Body Keeps the Score – Dr. Bessel van der Kolk: A trauma-informed classic that explores how the body stores emotional pain – and how healing is possible. Engagingly written but profoundly educational.
• The State of Black Girls – Marline Francois-Madden: A guide to creating safe spaces for Black girls facing abuse, trauma, and mental health stigma – filled with affirmations, advocacy, and practical advice.
• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone – Lori Gottlieb: Part memoir, part guide, this book offers insight into the therapy process from someone who’s been on both the couch and in the therapist’s chair.
• Sisterhood Heals – Dr. Joy Harden Bradford: A celebration of friendship and community as a healing force, especially for Black women navigating mental health and identity.
• A Therapeutic Journey – Alain de Botton: A philosophical take on therapy, emotional growth, and self-compassion. Thoughtfully transformative, it offers kindness and compassionate insight.

Fiction

• Freshwater – Akwaeke Emezi: A genre-defying novel exploring dissociation, identity and mental illness through mythic and psychological lenses. Unequivocally unique and unforgettable.
• Everything Here Is Beautiful – Mira T. Lee: A gorgeous but gut-wrenching novel about two sisters – one living with schizophrenia – and the complexities of love, care, and autonomy.
• Real Life – Brandon Taylor: A slow-burn, satirical novel about a queer Black scientist navigating grief, isolation, and microaggressions in academia. Subtle and deeply affecting.
• The Shock of the Fall – Nathan Filer: Written by a former mental health nurse, this is an extraordinary tale about a man’s descent into mental illness – exploring grief and schizophrenia.
• Luster – Raven Leilani: Centred on a young woman’s relationship with a middle-aged couple, this biting novel explores depression, desire, and disillusionment in modern America.

Fair warning: these books are far from fairytales; they’re difficult to read. But the magical thing about stories on mental health? They validate our experiences, challenge our perceptions, and expand our understanding. Whether through memoir or metaphor, they remind us that we’re not alone and that healing, while nonlinear, is possible.