#mentalhealthmonday book tag

Hello everyone! Today I come to you with something that I’ve been working on for quite a while – my own mental health book tag! I’ve been really wracking my brains about how to raise a bit more awareness about mental health in books, and what better way than in a tag? Even if only one other person does this, it’ll make me ridiculously happy.

The Rules:

1. Credit the original creator, whatthelog
2. Answer the questions!
3. Tag as many or as few people as you like 🙂

That’s it! Now onto the questions…

1. Name a book that lifts your spirits, even when times are tough.

For me this is a tie between an old favourite, the Harry Potters, and a new discovery, Queens of Geek.

2. What book about mental health is on your TBR? Why?

I’ve got a mental health shelf on goodreads but the book I’m looking forward to reading the most is probably Made You Up by Francesca Zappia.

3. Name a non-fiction book about mental health.

The current non-fiction book I’m reading is Mad, Bad and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors by Lisa Appignanesi. It’s a history of women and how their mental health has been studied and cured in the past 200 or so years.

4. Read this, not that – name a book with a good depiction of mental health, and one with a problematic depiction of mental health.

I would recommend A Tragic Kind of Wonderful, as it had a very nuanced depiction of bipolar disorder (review here!) I really didn’t like the depiction of agoraphobia in Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger. Read my review here (warning, there are spoilers).

5. Other than reading, what helps when you’re feeling low?

Talking logically through my thoughts with friends often helps, as does art therapy. (I’m going to do a post about how art therapy has helped me in a few weeks, look out for that!)

6. Name a book that is intersectional – e.g. there is a character of colour or lgbt+ character with low mental health

The fantastic book Haldol and Hyacinths by Melody Moezzi is the autobiography of a Muslim woman who is bipolar. Read my review here!

7. Why do you think accurate representations of mental health is important?

Because there are so many inaccuracies about mental health in the world. I want people to know that 1 in 4 people experience low mental health at some point in their lives – that it is nothing to be ashamed of, but rather an illness that deserves to be treated like any other. I want people to know that their experiences are valid, and that just because mental health is ‘all in your head’, that doesn’t make it any less pressing and real.

8. Name a book about a less well-known mental health condition.

On the Spectrum by Jennifer Gold features a main character with orthorexia – an eating disorder of eating obsessively healthy. I’ve never read a book about this particular eating disorder before.

9. What book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about mental health?

This only covers anxiety and OCD, but Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne is an incredible depiction of these mental health conditions. It seriously impressed me.

I tag:

Christine @ the story salve

Sarah @ samesfoley

Sinead @ Huntress of Diverse Books

Fadwa @ Word Wonders

Resh Susan @ The Book Satchel

Aelinor @ meet the book world

Lauren @ Wonderless Reviews

CW @ readthinkponder

Jackie @ Death by Tsundoku