Mental Health - Three books I read when I need help

I think it's safe to say, mental health is something a lot of people deal with, whether it's fleeting or it's constant, it's something we all find difficulty with. My mental health was in a very bad place last year, and luckily I've been able to (mostly) claw myself out of some serious trouble.

Having said that, some days I get a little overwhelmed, and my mental state plummets. Today it happened, and without going into details, I started to stress and think that everything was getting worse and worse. It wasn't, of course, but you still can't help but feel as though it's the end of the world when you're in that type of mood.

So instead of basking in it and spiralling more, I thought I'd do a blog post about three books that I've found either help me when I'm feeling like I'm in a bad way, make me forget for an hour or so when I start reading, or just understand what I'm going through without me having to realise? I'm not sure, but these books have helped me either to make myself feel better in bad days, or help me figure out where my head is, so I want to share with you!

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Eliza and Her Monsters deals with a lot. This book is incredibly adorable, but at the same time incredibly important when it comes to certain things. Eliza Mirk is an introverted shy kid who doesn't fit in with her family or her school mates, so she's always feeling like she's on the outside of everything, outside of her family, outside of her school, on top of that she's also an online sensation of a webcomic, which she publishes under the anonymous name of LadyConstellation. What's always gripped me about this book is just how well the author was able to capture this feeling of anxiety to do with social aspects, and just how much you can tell that our main character isn't completely okay within a lot of her life. The idea of not entirely knowing who you are and how it sometimes takes a lot to figure that out, that's something that I super relate to. In my Goodreads review I said it was an overflowing mass of emotions and though I'm exhausted from everything that happened, I want to pick this book straight back up and live in this world, and I think that still stands. I remember feeling the anxiety of the character because they clung so closely to my own anxieties. Sometimes you need to be reminded of how bad it can get, to get yourself out of that headspace.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

John Green has this really interesting way of being able to cling onto certain aspects of human nature and being able to express them in this very interesting way that I find both poetic and simple, which I know is a total oxymoron, but I dunno it makes sense to me. But yeah, John Green always has this way of making something feel real. This book is very happy to discuss mental health, making you realise it's normal and okay to not be okay all the time (let's say that again, having problems with your mental health IS NORMAL AND OKAY). I read this book before my mental health issues really kicked in, but now I really want to reread it and see how it speaks to me on another level. But I think John Green has this way of being able to help you realise that whatever you're going through, whatever you think is good or bad in your life, that it's okay not to be okay, you can still ask for help and get what you need from other people. I think even if you're not a huge John Green fan, because I know there are people out there who don't like it, but I think sometimes people need reminding that mental health and mental illness is important, and just because your mental health is different to other people's, it's still going to impact a lot.

Vampire Blood by Darren Shan

Yep, this is a weird one, and I know it. This book/series is something that I can't leave out because I think it would be a complete oversight as to what we do to get into a good mental state even if the book isn't about mental health. I read this book series (I think I'd finished this one, but I'd been in the middle of the series at least at this time) when I was 13, and I had a real tragedy hit me. What does a teenager who doesn't know how to deal with things do when it comes to grief, depression, and loss, especially when they have a week off to try and deal with the loss of the most important person in their lives at the time? Of course, read horror books.
Now I know that's a bit weird, but I'd discovered when I was about 11 how to put up a barrier against my fears and had come to actually really love horror and things that prior to this I'd really not been okay with prior to this. But I'd fallen in love with horror, and these books really stood out to me, and a family friend bought me the book, and then the rest when this tragedy struck.
I think what's great about loving reading is the escapism. Even at that age, I could switch off, go into this completely different world and not face the fact that I had all of these emotions that I didn't understand. So, I wanted to share this one because I don't think it's always got to be 'you're depressed, read a book about depression', I think sometimes it's as easy as 'I'm feeling a bit down, let me read this book that I know is going to be fun and I'm going to enjoy'.




And that's it! I feel a bit better focusing on something other than just my head and being overwhelmed and embarrassed, so this was nice. Thank you for reading, and I hope this was helpful, let me know if there's any books you recommend for these types of moods!