25 best mental health books to read in 2025
Looking for the best mental health books? Here, we round up our top books about mental health, anxiety, depression and stress, from fascinating research to relatable page-turners and beautiful memoirs.
For those who want to understand how their minds work
Stress Tested by Dr Richard Mackenzie
Why do we feel stress? And how can we change things? Stress Tested is a pioneering collaboration between leading researcher Richard Mackenzie and journalist Peter Walker. Investigating the science of stress hormones, real-life case studies, the history of stress, societal factors and how they interact with stress, Mackenzie and Walker explain exactly how stress works, and what we can do to mitigate its long-term health impact. This is the book exploring the nuances of stress and how it affects you.
Unstressable by Mo Gawdat
Unstressable applies Mo Gawdat's brilliant engineering mind and Alice Law's psychology and stress-management expertise to the 'stress pandemic'. This follow up to bestselling Solve For Happy will show you that chronic stress is not an unavoidable part of modern life, but a predictable – and therefore preventable – response, often as much to do with negative thought patterns as external circumstances. Practical exercises will help you build up the skills to manage stress, backed up by neuroscience and accessible psychology.
Dead Weight by Emmeline Clein
Emmeline Clein takes her own experiences, alongside those of other women, to follow the medical and cultural history of eating disorders. In writing that’s electric, fierce and endlessly curious, Clein investigates the economic conditions underpinning our eating disorder epidemic, grapples with the myriad ways disordered eating has affected her own friendships and romantic relationships, and illuminates how today's feminism has been complicit in disordered eating culture. Through it all, she challenges the accepted narratives women absorb every day about themselves, revealing the dangerous messages that connect female worth to inhabiting an ever-smaller form.
Ten Times Calmer by Dr Kirren Schnack
Dr Kirren Schnack is here to tell you that your anxiety isn’t here to stay. As an Oxford-trained and practicing NHS clinical psychologist with twenty years experience, she offers a first aid kit of tools to help you understand what you’re going through and change how you’re feeling — and it might just be easier than you think. The ten chapters cover everything from dealing with anxious thoughts and stress to managing uncertainty and safely tackling trauma, with each tip taking you one step closer to an anxiety-free life.
That Little Voice In Your Head by Mo Gawdat
Mo Gawdat's That Little Voice in Your Head is a practical guide to rewiring your brain for joy. He reveals that by talking down the negative voice within, we can change the way we think, turn greed into kindness, transform apathy into compassionate action and create our own happiness. Gawdat's brain exercises draw on his experience as a former Google engineer and Chief Business Officer, as well as from his neuroscience studies. And he explains how – despite their complexity – our brains generally behave in predictable ways. Drawing inspiration from the life of his late son, Gawdat has written a manual for happiness that is steeped in empathy.
On Agoraphobia by Graham Caveney
In his early twenties, Graham Caveney began to experience strange symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with agoraphobia. For the following decades he had to manage his condition and live with various restrictions: no motorways, no dual carriageways, no shopping centres and limited time outdoors. In his efforts to understand his illness, Graham came back to his first love: reading. And he discovered that literature has plenty of examples of agoraphobics, from Harper Lee’s Boo Radley to Ford Madox Ford, Emily Dickinson and Shirley Jackson. This is a fascinating if sometimes painful look at a disorder that escapes easy definition.
Books for those looking to understand their childhood
What Happened to You? by Oprah Winfrey, Dr Bruce Perry
Through wide-ranging, and often deeply personal conversation, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Perry explore how what happens to us in early childhood – both good and bad - influences the people we become. In conversation throughout the book, the two focus on understanding people, behaviour, and ourselves in the context of personal experiences. They remove blame and self-shaming, and open up a space for healing and understanding. Grounded in the latest brain science and brought to life through compelling narratives, this book shines a light on a much-needed path to recovery – showing us our incredible capacity to transform after adversity.
Toxic Childhood Stress by Dr Nadine Burke Harris
To go forward, we must go back. As many as two thirds of us experienced some kind of childhood adversity, and Dr Nadine Burke Harris aims to help uncover, identify and heal childhood trauma in her book Toxic Childhood Stress: The Legacy of Early Trauma and How to Heal. And it’s important work; childhood trauma not only affects mental health, but physiological health too. As the Surgeon General of California and the founder and CEO of Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco, Dr Burke Harris pulls together stories and findings from her ground-breaking research linking childhood trauma to health in this fascinating and astonishing read.
Books for those looking to find solace in creativity
The Green Sketching Handbook by Ali Foxon
We all know that both creativity and time spent in the outdoors are beneficial for our mental health and general wellbeing. Many of us struggle to take time out and get away from our screens, but there is an answer! With its appealing combination of quick exercises with research on nature and creative activities, The Green Sketching Handbook will have you reaching for your pencil. Climate scientist and nature lover Dr Ali Foxon guides you to abandon fears of inadequacy, and create vivid depictions of your outdoor adventures.
Start Painting Now by Emily Powell
Start Painting Now is a practical, accessible guide to discovering your creative spirit, giving you brilliant new tools for relaxation and self-care. Instagram's favourite artist Emily Powell and her sister, doctor Sarah Moore, will guide you through the process of learning to ignore your inner critic and unwind from the stresses of daily life through painting. Supported by the latest research on the benefits of art for mental health and wellbeing, Start Painting Now will empower you to put aside the fear of failure, turn off your phone and throw yourself into the joy of creativity.
Books for those navigating grief
Heartsick by Jessie Stephens
'Heartbreak does not seem to be a brand of grief we respect. And so we are left in the middle of the ocean, floating in a dinghy with no anchor, while the world waits for us to be okay again.'
Based on three true stories, Heartsick by Jessie Stephens is a compelling narrative non-fiction account of the many lows and occasional surprising highs of heartbreak. Bruising, beautiful, achingly specific but wholeheartedly universal, it reminds us that emotional pain can make us as it breaks us, and that storytelling has the ultimate healing power.
How to Feel Better by Cathy Rentzenbrink
While we can't control all the ups and downs of life, we can choose how we respond to them. But rather than instructing us on how to live, Cathy Rentzenbrink approaches this book with warm, gentle guidance and offers comfort for those times we need it most. She covers topics such as her etiquette for bad news and the words of wisdom she would like to pass onto her son in a characteristically compassionate tone. How to Feel Better is essential reading for anyone looking to make sense of a big upheaval, or those simply navigating the daily ebbs and flows of life.
Books for those who want to tackle difficult emotions
How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz
Do you struggle to stay positive in winter? Do you dread the long nights and dark skies that come with autumn's clock change? Do you find endless grey skies, drizzle and cold difficult to deal with? Dr. Kari Leibowitz sets out evidence-based strategies to help you learn not only to accept the chillier months, but even to embrace them, offering practical, easy-to-follow advice to transform your experience of wintertime. What's more, she sets out how techniques used for shifting our mindsets around winter can also be used to cope with times of emotional difficulty.
How to Stay Sane by Philippa Perry
There is no simple set of instructions that can guarantee sanity, but if you want to overcome emotional difficulties and become happier, psychotherapist Philippa Perry, argues that there are four cornerstones to sanity you can influence to bring about change. By developing your self-observation skills, examining how you relate to others, breaking out of your comfort zone and exploring new ways of defining yourself, Philippa demonstrates that it is possible to become a little less tortured and a little more fulfilled.
How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett
What if our emotions weren’t pre-programmed in our brains and bodies? That’s what Lisa Feldman Barrett asks in her book How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. She instead argues that most of what we believe about emotions is wrong. Understanding where your own emotional responses stem from and how they appear in your own body is an intriguing concept. ‘It doesn’t mean that emotions are an illusion, or that bodily responses are random,’ says Lisa. ‘It means that on different occasions...the same emotion category involves different bodily responses. Variation, not uniformity, is the norm.’
Solve For Happy by Mo Gawdat
Mo Gawdat tackles the problem of how to be happy using his engineering training, coming up with an equation for lasting happiness. When his son died, it became Mo’s mission to spread his happiness principles, and he has bottled those in this book. An answer to one of life’s great challenges, his message and methods will offer solace and a new way of looking at the world.
Mental health books for those who might be feeling alone
Things No One Taught Us About Love by Vex King
The hope and expectation that romantic love can and will be the solution to all our problems can put real strain on our relationships. Learn how to strengthen them, and uncover the true nature of love – a force within us, rather than an external power – with Vex King. By deconstructing the myths and misconceptions surrounding love and relationships, this book will help you to understand yourself, create and maintain healthy habits, set boundaries and heal.
Broken by Jenny Lawson
As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. We see how her vacuum cleaner almost set her house on fire, how she was attacked by three bears, and why she can never go back to the post office. Of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor, the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball, is present throughout. A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.
The Colour of Madness by Samara Linton
The Colour of Madness brings together memoirs, essays, poetry, short fiction and artworks by people of colour who have experienced difficulties with mental health. From experiencing micro-aggressions to bias, and stigma to religious and cultural issues, people of colour have to fight harder than others to be heard and helped. Statistics show that people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK experience poor mental health treatment in comparison to their white counterparts, and are more likely to be held under the Mental Health Act. For more inspiring reads take a look at our our top books about mental health.
The Stranger on the Bridge by Jonny Benjamin
What does it feel like to lose all hope, and find it again? That’s what Johnny Benjamin shares in his brave memoir The Stranger on the Bridge: My Journey from Suicidal Despair to Hope, which tells the story of how he found himself standing atop Waterloo Bridge, ready to jump when a stranger saw him and intervened. Years later, Johnny took on the monumental task of trying to find the stranger who saved his life. Johnny’s story is one of hope – lost and then found. Including his struggles accepting and sharing his sexuality and his mental health struggles within his Jewish family and community, he shares a unique yet relatable story of mental health.
Maybe I Don't Belong Here by David Harewood
When David Harewood was twenty-three, his acting career began to take flight and he had what he now understands to be a psychotic breakdown. He was physically restrained by six police officers, sedated, then hospitalized and transferred to a locked ward. Only now, thirty years later, has he been able to process what he went through. In this powerful and provocative account of a life lived after psychosis, critically acclaimed actor, David Harewood, uncovers a devastating family history and investigates the very real impact of racism on Black mental health.
The Book of Hope by Jonny Benjamin
Award-winning mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin, MBE, and co-editor Britt Pflüger bring together people from all walks of life – actors, musicians, athletes, psychologists and activists – to share what gives them hope. This joyful collection is a supportive hand to anyone looking to find light on a dark day and shows that, no matter what you may be going through, you are not alone. In this book, Johnny Benjamin brings together a range of voices to speak to the spectrum of our experiences of mental health and the power of speaking up and seeking help.
In Love with the World by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The moving story of meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s journey into the wilderness and a near-death experience during his four-year wandering retreat is as inspirational as it is spiritual. Through Rinpoche’s intimate account of his search for the self during his suffering, he demonstrates how we can transform a fear of death into a life filled with joy.
Books for those who have just discovered that they have ‘mental health’
A Beginner's Guide to Being Mental by Natasha Devon
‘We all exist somewhere within a spectrum of mental health.’ Natasha’s contribution to this list is a hilarious read which takes us on a journey through the alphabet of mental health, all the way from Anxiety, to ZERO FUCKS GIVEN (or the art of having high self-esteem), with a few pitstops at Drugs, Internet, Therapy and other useful themes connecting to mental health along the way. Sourcing expert advice along with her own laugh-out-loud personal experiences, this is observational comedy meets mental health advice, resulting in a sense that however you are feeling, whatever you’re going through, you’re not the only one.
The Kindness Method by Shahroo Izadi
In these difficult times, we could all benefit from showing ourselves a little kindness. If you want to use this time to make a change, Behavioural Change Specialist Shahroo Izadi believes there’s only one way to make change last, and that’s to be kind to yourself. The Kindness Method was developed through a combination of professional training and personal experience and will leave you feeling empowered, positive and ready to make a change, whether it’s weight loss, cutting down on alcohol or improving your relationships.
Anxiety for Beginners by Eleanor Morgan
‘Anxiety itself is not a mental illness’, explains Eleanor Morgan in her sharp book Anxiety for Beginners: A Personal Investigation. ‘As part of our hardwiring as human beings, and what it means to be conscious, anxiety is a law of human nature. Natural selection gave us minds and, with them, we were released from the shackles of biological determinism. But the power of the mind is a whole new set of chains because there’s always something to be anxious about. We worry because that’s what we’ve evolved to do.’ This is a compilation of the writer's own experiences, curiously delved into and unpicked with relatable thoughtfulness.
Books for chronic people pleasers
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
Have you lost sight of yourself while addressing the needs of others? Fully revised and updated, with a new chapter on trauma and anxiety, this modern classic – that has already sold over 7 million copies across the globe – will help you heal and grow. With personal reflections, exercises, and instructive stories drawn from Beattie's own life and the lives of those she's counselled, Codependent No More will help you break old patterns and maintain healthy boundaries, and offers a clear and achievable path to healing, hope, freedom and happiness.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
As a New York Times bestseller which has sold over one million copies and featured on lists including Oprah’s O Magazine and Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, Untamed by activist Glennon Doyle had to get a mention in our list of top books about mental health. Centreed around the theme of learning to listen inwardly in order to find yourself, Glennon explores the peace and happiness to be found in shedding the pressures of the external expectations around us. Sharing her own personal story of how, when and why she decided to stop pleasing others, this is a powerful memoir, and a wakeup call to start living for ourselves.
You can be ambitious and take a break. Balance isn’t about doing it all—it’s about protecting your peace along the way.
How to Cope with Graduation Anxiety
Managing the Uncertainty of the Future
Whether you’re facing the next step in your education or launching into a career, the future can feel overwhelming. If there’s one thing graduation guarantees, it’s change, and with change comes uncertainty. Whether you have a solid plan in place or not, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the idea of life post-graduation.
For some students, that end-of-college uncertainty comes on the heels of intense college burnout — the kind that leaves you mentally and emotionally drained before the next chapter even begins. Uncertainty doesn’t mean you’re unprepared. It just means you’re stepping into a part of life where there’s no set syllabus or clear timeline. That’s okay! Instead of viewing uncertainty as something to fear, it can help to reframe it as a space for growth, exploration, and new possibilities.
Reframe uncertainty as opportunity
While it’s easy to associate the unknown with risk or failure, uncertainty also holds space for discovery. Shifting your mindset from fear to curiosity can make a huge difference when you’re facing pre-graduation anxiety. When you catch yourself spiraling into “what ifs”, try reframing your mindset by asking instead:
What exciting possibilities could be waiting for me?
What new skills, relationships, or passions might I discover?
Where did I thrive in college the most, and how might I harness that into a future career?
Set flexible and realistic goals
You don’t need a five-year plan right now. You may not need a perfect plan for the next five months. Focus on setting realistic and flexible goals that can provide direction without locking you into rigid expectations. Try setting small milestones, such as:
Apply to 3-5 jobs or internships per week
Attend one networking event each month
Explore different career fields by scheduling informational interviews with alumni
Remember, a goalpost can move — and that’s growth, not failure.
Process your emotions in healthy ways
When you keep your emotions bottled up, it’s easy for graduation stress to spiral. Finding outlets to express what you’re feeling can help make things feel a little more manageable. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Journaling for anxiety: Writing about your hopes, fears, and dreams is a good practice for any stage of life. Getting your thoughts on paper is an effective mindfulness exercise that can help you process your feelings and narrow down your goals. When you read them back later, you might be surprised by how much your mindset has evolved — or how much progress you’ve made — in just a short time.
Talking to mentors or advisors: Many of the people you spent the last four years with were at one time in your shoes, too. Ask them for advice on navigating the transition. Their reassurance and hindsight might help you find a clearer path forward.
Creating a vision board: Visualizing your goals, even if they’re broad for now, through creative outlets, can make the future feel less abstract and more inspiring.
Coping With Career and Financial Stress
One of the biggest anxiety triggers associated with graduating is the pressure to “figure it all out” overnight, especially regarding your future career and finances. While this can be especially intense after college, many high school grads face similar stress if they’re entering the workforce or navigating financial independence for the first time.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember: you’re not behind. Career paths are rarely linear, and financial independence is a gradual process, not a race.
Easing financial anxiety
When it comes to graduation stress, financial concerns can add fuel to the fire. If you’re worried about loans, rent, or living expenses, taking small steps can help you regain control:
Make a basic budget: Start simple by tracking what’s coming in and what’s going out.
Explore your options: Full-time work isn’t the only path forward. Internships, part-time jobs, contract work, and freelancing gigs can help build experience and provide a financial buffer while you figure things out.
Seek out resources: Remember all those career center emails you’ve been ignoring for the last three and a half years? Now’s the time to dig them out of your inbox. Alumni networks and social media groups are also good places to find job leads, free financial workshops, and mentorship programs.
Breaking goals into small steps
When you’re staring down a mountain of expectations — career, money, moving out — it’s easy to freeze up. One of the best ways to regain control is to break big, scary goals into smaller, doable steps. For example:
Instead of “find a job immediately,” start with “update my resume this week.”
Instead of “save enough to move out,” start with “save $100 this month.”
Instead of “land my dream career,” start with “interview three people who have my dream career.”
Progress — not perfection — is what builds momentum and confidence.
Dealing With Changes in Social Circles and Identity
Graduation anxiety is about more than worries for the future — a big piece is also grieving the life you’re leaving behind. Leaving behind a close-knit community — whether it’s high school or college — can be emotional. Friends move away, routines change, and your sense of identity may feel less certain. After years of building community and a sense of identity grounded in your classmates, professors, and clubs, it’s natural to feel lost when all that suddenly goes away.
Navigating shifts in friendship
After graduation, your social circle might look a little (or a lot) different. Some of your closest friends might move to new cities, find new jobs, or simply grow in different directions. It’s normal to miss what you had or experience social anxiety at work or in social settings without the comfort of your regular crew. The key is to find balance by staying connected while building new support systems. You might want to:
Prioritize friendships that matter: Keep the old group chats going, or pick up the phone for a monthly call to stay in touch with your closest college friends.
Be open to new connections: Making friends is harder after college, but it’s possible. Join networking groups, hobby clubs, or professional organizations to forge new connections with like-minded people.
Give yourself grace: Rebuilding community after college takes time. If you’re feeling isolated, know that it’s temporary, and you’re not alone.
Redefining your identity
So much of your identity so far has been tied to being a student. When that identity shifts, it can leave you wondering, “Who am I now?”
Self-reflection can be a powerful tool in dissecting such a personal and philosophical question. Instead of clinging to old labels, give yourself permission to explore who you are beyond courses, grades, and campus. Try some open-ended journaling prompts to get the ideas flowing:
What are my most important values?
What excites me most outside of school or academic achievements?
Who do I want to become in this next chapter?
Practicing Self-Compassion and Stress Management
Anxiety before graduation is a natural reaction to one of life’s biggest transitions, and it takes time, patience, and a whole lot of self-kindness to overcome it. Studies show that facing this adjustment period isn’t just stressful—it’s also exceedingly common. A recent review published in BMJ Open found that recent graduates experience increased rates of stress and anxiety during the transition from college to the workforce, largely due to the loss of structure and financial pressure.
Adjusting takes time (and that’s okay)
You may feel an unspoken expectation that you should “have it all together” immediately after graduating. The truth is, though, it’s perfectly normal to deal with situational anxiety post-graduation and feel a little lost for a while.
Self-compassion goes a long way here. Instead of beating yourself up for feeling anxious, treat yourself the way you’d treat a friend going through a big change — with patience, understanding, and gentle encouragement.
Stress management techniques that actually work
When graduation anxiety feels overwhelming, stress management techniques can help calm your mind and body. Here are some effective methods for how to deal with stress in college’s final weeks:
Box breathing technique: Inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts, hold for four counts. Repeat a few times to signal to your nervous system that you’re safe.
Meditation and mindfulness: Even just a few minutes a day of guided meditation can lower anxiety and help you stay grounded in the present moment.
Setting healthy boundaries: It’s okay to set limits with well-meaning friends or family members who keep asking, “what’s next?” Explore mental health tips for college students on the brink of graduation and be sure to prioritize your mental health just as much as your career goals.
Graduates who reach out for post-college mental health resources aren’t just surviving the transition — they’re thriving. Research shows that early intervention with mental health services can significantly reduce long-term anxiety and depression risks.
Moving Forward With Confidence and Resilience
Whether you’re stepping into college life or transitioning into the working world after graduation, remember that progress matters more than perfection. You don’t need to have it all figured out today, or even next year. Post-graduation success is a journey filled with twists, turns, and opportunities you can’t always see right away.
On the tough days, it helps to have a little hope in a jar. 💌
Create a self-care jar filled with affirmations, soothing ideas, or things that make you smile. It’s a small tool with big impact.
#SelfCareTools #MentalHealthSupport #YouDeserveCare
This Pride, we’re reminding our LGBTQ+ community that your mental health matters, today and every day. Reach out. Get support. You deserve it. #PrideAndSupport #MentalHealthAwareness #LGBTQSupport
The Importance of Pride Month LGBTQI+ rights are human rights, but unfortunately, that still isn't status quo.
This month is LGBTQI+ Pride Month. In the US and other countries, many places display rainbow flags, companies have promotions, events, or products “in honor of LGBTQI+ Pride,” and there are cities around the world that have a parade sometime in the month of June.
That said, many people don’t know or understand why Pride Month exists and/or the purpose of the parade. Some react with fear and prejudice, some are puzzled as to why it’s necessary, while others think of it as just a big excuse to dress up and party.
But LGBTQI+ Pride Month actually has a very specific history and purpose. For many, if not most, in the LGBTQI+ community, it’s a deeply meaningful and moving day that has great significance.
Understanding the history of Pride
In order to understand Pride Month and why there are pride parades, it’s important to understand the history. The first recorded march for the rights of LGBTQI+ folks in the United States was in 1969 in New York City. The regular, systematic, and violent oppression of people in that community reached a boiling point, at a time when other social movements — the Civil Rights movement, Women’s Liberation movement, Disability Rights movement — were gaining momentum and fighting for oppressed groups to have a voice and demand for equal human treatment.
At that time, the police, and individuals felt it well within their rights to oppress and cause bodily harm to people within the LGBTQI+ community. The march was a response to that treatment — it was a demand that people within the community be treated with the basic rights, respect, and dignity afforded other human beings in the country.
Those first marchers were courageous. They risked their lives by exposing themselves to the public as part of the community and in doing so, they made the community visible and empowered. After this first march, it became an annual event. The next year there were also marches in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, there are 150 cities around the world that host Pride events during the summer.
So why are these events still happening?
Prejudice, oppression, violence, and death are still, unfortunately, common for people in the LBTQI+ community in the United States and across the globe. Many states in the US are continuing to pass legislation to deny the rights of people in this community. In the US, LBTQI+ youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual, cis youth because of the continued deep prejudice, hatred, and lack of acceptance they perceive around them.
Around the world, there are laws specifically being passed to deny the rights of LBTQI+ people to live, love, work, receive medical care, go to the bathroom, exercise, and even simply exist. People in this community continue to be subjected to rejection, prejudice, violence, and death.
For this reason, Pride Month — and the pride parades — continue to be deeply important in the continued solidarity, fight for human rights, and visibility of the LGBTQI+ community. Additionally, and equally important, is the label “pride.” For a group of people who are told continuously — through laws, religions, media, bullying, and directly — that LBTQI+ people are less-than or should not exist, it is deeply psychologically important that there be counter-messaging. Shame is debilitating and can lead to mental illness, addiction, isolation, and death.
It is deeply important that there be a visible, supported, and joyous event telling people of the LBTQI+ community that it is a beautiful, diverse, supported, and welcome community, and one to be proud to be a member of, and one that deserves the rights and dignities of every human.
The Importance of Mental Health Awareness Month - We can all play a part in raising mental health awareness and decreasing stigma.
Did you know that Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in the month of May since 1949? It was originally designated as such by the national advocacy organization Mental Health America. Annually during the month of May, organizations, groups, and individuals run campaigns that are designed to raise awareness and educate the public about mental health conditions.
Here's what you should know about the importance of Mental Health Awareness Month and how you can get involved.
Why do we need Mental Health Awareness Month?
People consistently rank health as one of the most important things in life. Sadly, however, optimal mental health is often not included. Mental health is many times the proverbial “elephant in the room”—we know that it is there, but it makes us uncomfortable to address it.
Stigma, misinformation, and disinformation all create substantial barriers in raising mental health awareness. We believe that stigma associated with mental illness is the most problematic of these. Stigma is defined as a mark of shame or discredit. In our book, Understanding Mental Illness, we discuss the stigma of mental illness and how it impacts those living with mental health conditions. Stigma is a label placed upon people to set them apart, to make them feel ashamed, disgraced, or embarrassed about who they are, often because of factors beyond their control.
What are the consequences of the stigma around mental illness?
Because of this stigma, people are more likely to discuss physical health conditions rather than mental health conditions with others. Similarly, they are also more assertive in seeking care for physical ailments than they are for mental health disorders. Surveys show that the average time between the onset of mental health symptoms and the decision to seek care for mental health conditions can be a year or more. Making a difference in the lives of people suffering from mental illness becomes quite difficult when such a delay exists between symptoms and interventions. As with physical health conditions, early diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions lead to better outcomes.
How do we as a society move forward?
Despite the barriers that exist, all hope is not lost. Increasingly, key stakeholders are having impactful conversations on ways to improve the mental health of Americans. Campaigns such as Mental Health Awareness month are playing a great role in important mental health issues such as awareness and access.
What can I do to help raise mental health awareness?
Each of us can play a part, whether big or small, in raising mental health awareness and thereby decreasing stigma. Mental Health Awareness month is a great time to take part in this cause by being an ambassador for mental health in one of the following ways:
Volunteer at or make a monetary donation to Mental Health America (MHA) or National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Be supportive of a friend or loved one who is struggling with a mental health condition.
Help raise mental health awareness on social media by engaging with platforms that support mental health causes.
Pay attention to your language. Avoid language that is negative (e.g. “she is bipolar," “that’s schizo," “they are crazy or psycho”).
Learn about mental health. Listen to a TED talk or podcast on a mental health topic. Read a book or blog about mental health or self-help issues. These are great ways to not only learn about mental health but also to improve your mental well-being.
