Five Best Books to Read for Mental Wellness

The book is not an escape from life but a shortcut to a better one. – Anonymous.

Easily portable and inexpensive is how you can define this best friend of yours- didn’t get the clue? Books! We’re here talking about how books carry singular ability to educate, entertain, and evoke empathy, making them the perfect and most economical medium for everyone.

Reading has always been a good source of intellectual stimulation and here are a few recommendations for your mental health:

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

The book is based on author Matt Haig’s story of reaching the depths of depression and his journey to managing it. A short read with big words, the story is incredibly compelling.

Matt knows what needs to be done to feel good and the most lovable thing is the interludes of lists. This book unfolds with lists of things that make people happy and a literal list of reasons to stay alive. Lists of reasons why this modern world can make us unhappy, unfulfilled and anxious if we let it.

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living by Russ Harris

It is quite an influential book and Harris is probably the most visible adherent of something called ACT or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. ACT is a relatively new form of therapy that argues that the key to dealing with depression, anxiety, or addiction is to not necessarily to remove or ignore bad feelings, but rather to develop mental tools and habits to simply weather them more effectively whereas it is focused on channelling pain and suffering into more productive interpretations and actions, ACT just says to ignore it, negative emotions make you feel bad and they don’t necessarily have to mean anything at all if we don’t let them. This therapy is one of a number of more recent developments in psychology that incorporates some of the benefits of mindfulness, with a bit of philosophy in it. You’ll find “The Happiness Trap” as one of the most approachable and enjoyable psych reads out there. The writing is interesting enough to let you sink in each word, and the exercises are engaging and fun.

How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body by David R. Hamilton

Mind and body are inseparably inter-connected, which is why physical conditions triggered by underlying mental health causes can sometimes be difficult to understand. In this book, author Dr. David Hamilton has shared some explanations of what happens to our body at the cellular level when we have poor mental health. The book covers an A to Z list of how we can use imagery as a healing mechanism for chronic pain and other physical conditions. Hamilton’s groundbreaking research and findings mentioned in the book are inspiring, and the book positively urges readers to step up and take charge of their well-being.

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

This book serves as a self-help guide, especially for this generation. Sometimes negative reinforcement works well and a superstar blogger cuts through to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. The most productive use of one’s time and energy is finding something important and meaningful in your life. This is true because everyone has problems associated with life and the book justifies how finding meaning in your life will help you sustain the effort needed to overcome the particular problems you face. Thus, we can say that the key to living a good life is not giving a f*ck about more things, but rather, giving a f*ck only about the things that align with your personal values.

The Anxiety Solution by Chloe Brotheridge

This book is mainly about anxiety, and how to deal with it. The author has suffered from anxiety herself, and she begins by explaining her own experience with it. After this, she moves into describing why we get anxious, and then goes through various techniques and lifestyle changes that can help us relieve anxiety. These include exercise, meditation and diet.

Over to you

Reading books has proven to be beneficial for mental health and the benefits can last a lifetime. If you are not an avid reader, it’s never too late to begin taking advantage of many psychological benefits waiting for you in the pages of a good book.