There are a few niche book categories that will never fail to get my attention: nonfiction about North Korea, dystopian novels for adults, and memoirs of mental illness. Because I don’t think any of us reads this last category enough, I have picked out nine memoirs of women with mental illness that you should put on your TBR, A.S.A.P.
Nearly 20 percent of all adults in the U.S. will be diagnosed with a mental illness in their lifetime, and a solid 20 percent of teens ages 18 and younger live with a chronic mental illness, so why do we still have a problem talking about mental health? That’s not a rhetorical question; I’m genuinely curious. I live with my mental and chronic illnesses every day, but they can still be difficult to talk about, even to other people who have the same diagnoses as me.
Mental health remains largely misunderstood in our society, and that’s why I believe that reading memoirs of mental illness is a critical step toward understanding both our fellow human beings and ourselves. If you have never read a book from this subgenre before, any of the titles on the list below will be an excellent place to start.
