The journey to improving your mental health and overall well-being is oftentimes a long one. With so many wellness influencers crowding your feed, you might be overwhelmed and not know where to begin your journey. Although wellness influencers can be helpful, reading mental health books is a great place to start: they provide in-depth explanations of the mind, mindfulness practices, and can help you find the nuanced routines and tools you need to begin healing. Additionally, many are written by psychologists, neuroscientists, and other mental health professionals — so you can read with the comfort of an expert’s analysis.
Adding reading to your self-care regimen also promotes relaxation, engages your mind (which has tons of benefits, BTW), and helps you grow holistically. Here are five mental health books that can be a great help, whether you are a wellness guru or just beginning your mental health journey.
- Switch On Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf
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Switch On Your Brain is a Christian neuroscience book by Dr. Caroline Leaf that pairs scripture with the fundamentals of neurobiology. Even if you are not religious, this book provides detailed and liberating insight into the functions of the CREB gene, a gene responsible for activating genetic traits. The first half of the book explains the relationship between genetics and mental health, and the second half of the book guides you into breaking down “bad,” memories, getting to the roots of fears and traumas, and rebuilding positive neural networks in your brain. Switch on Your Brain is transformative and provides applicable guidance through navigating your mental health journey.
- The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
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The Body Keeps The Score is an in-depth discussion on the biological markers of trauma. The renowned Dr. Bessel van der Kolk provides a deep understanding of how trauma literally rewires your brain, specifically areas dedicated to trust, control, pleasure, and engagement. Similar to Dr. Caroline Leaf, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk lists concrete ways damaged areas can be both rewired and restored through activities such as engaging in mindful activities like yoga and meditation, The Body Keeps the Score is an enlightening read that quite literally takes you on a journey through past trauma and into a restorative future.
- Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen
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In Get Out Of Your Head, pastor’s wife Jennie Allen demonstrates the freedom that you have over toxic thought patterns. Through telling the tale of her own personal struggle with mental health and fearful spirals, Allen narrates how to stop destructive thought spirals and adopt better patterns. Allen focuses on positive affirmations, although hers come from the bible, positive affirmations are a great tool for people of all backgrounds and belief systems.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
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As you probably already know, life transformation does not take place overnight. In Atomic Habits, Clear provides realistic, practical, small ways for you to alter your daily routine. These atomic habits will produce big-time changes in your everyday life. Clear reminds readers that it’s okay to start small; in fact, it’s often better to.
- Your Twenties: No one ever teaches you how to grow up, you know? by Jessica Smith
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Your twenties are a defining decade. It seems like every choice has the power to make or break you: you face pressure to jumpstart a career, permanently settle down, and for many people, to find the one. With all these important decisions to make and little direction, mental health struggles begin to rise. Organized into five main life areas: self-love, healthy mind, body acceptance, relationships, and career, Your Twenties provides pivotal advice to a dear twenty-something looking for a little guidance in this overwhelming time in life. If your anxiety is stemming from the pressure to make good decisions, this book will help you out a whole lot.
