Books about mental health and mental illness can be wonderful tools to de-stigmatize, educate, or make you feel less alone about what you’re going through.
And YA is a bomb genre to do that.
It covers all those ~formative years~ when dealing with mental health stuff is super common and it can reach an audience that especially needs to hear it.
But at the same time, it’s easy to miss the mark when writing about sensitive topics, so we want to know: What are your favorite YA books that actually nail it?
Maybe there’s a book that helped illuminate something you were going through but didn’t know how to articulate.
View this photo on Instagram
Like, maybe Cath’s anxiety in Fangirl made you sit up and say, “Shit, that’s what that is?”
Or maybe there's one you always rec for people who want to understand a loved one's struggle.
"Want to know what the inside of my head is like? READ THIS."
Maybe a book is your favorite because it actually hits on a super-underrepresented identity.
View this photo on Instagram
Because good representation of mentally ill POC or LGBTQ characters is hard to come by, for example.
Maybe there’s a great novel where characters grapple with mental health problems — without the whole book revolving around it.
View this photo on Instagram
There’s definitely a place for books that deal head-on with Serious Issues, but sometimes it’s nice to see mentally ill characters navigate plots other than psych wards, breakdowns, and suicide attempts.
Like, does anyone have any recs where a depressed girl saves the world? BECAUSE I’D LIKE TO READ IT, PLEASE.
Or maybe there’s one that blew you away with how truthfully it portrays a mental illness?
Share your favorites in the comments below and make sure to say what makes it so magical.
Your response could be included in an upcoming BuzzFeed Health post.
