19 Mental Health Books To Help Support Your Healing Journey

Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood

Your early twenties can be full of excitement and confusion. You've got more freedom than you did as a teen, but you're still figuring out who you are — or at least trying to be comfortable with your identity. It's time where society expects you to get it right, leaving little room for error and that can suck.

Satya Doyle Byock wants you to know there's nothing wrong with you in Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood. With her four pillars of development, you'll learn how to separate from things aren't beneficial, listen to your inner voice, build healthy routines, and integrate all these things for a life you love.

It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle

During a session with my therapist last year, I was shocked to learn that mental illnesses can be hereditary. It reminded that many people aren't fortunate to grow up in environments where people are willing or able to care for their mental health. However, books like It Didn't Start With You exist to help us gain a better understanding of how we may be carrying things that simply aren't our fault.

This book — along with supported evidence — suggests that the trauma from our ancestors can live within us. Not only that, but it explains how our daily habits and choices can be affected by it.

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal From Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

Just like It Didn't Start With You helps us understand that mental health struggles aren't a result of something we did, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents wants readers to know how parents can affect their parents. If you have a difficult relationship with one of your parents as a adult, Psychologist Lindsay Gibson wants to help you heal from childhood trauma.

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before aims to be a helpful resource in your daily life. Even if you don't have a mental health diagnoses, life can have hard moments and some days can be tough to navigate. Dr. Julie Smith outlines different tools you can utilize in different situations so you're not weighed down by life.

I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression

This is a great gift to give your S.O., brother, cousin, uncle, or bestie if they're struggling with depression. Too often men don't feel comfortable talking about their emotions and can bottle them up, leading to prolonged bouts of sadness. It's an excellent read that seeks to help men understand that they don't have to suffer silently.

The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Similar to It Didn't Start With You, The Body Keeps Score shares startling facts about how powerful trauma is and the effects it has on a person, changing how they move through their daily life. However, Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. shares different methods that can someone begin healing.

The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health

The Mind-Gut Connection wants us to understand just how connected our minds, microbiomes, and gut health are intertwined. They're constantly communicating — even if we're unaware — and can determine a host of things. From dealing with bloat to suffering from anxiety, you'll learn how to create harmony within yourself so you can live an optimal life.

Calm Your Thoughts: How to Stop Overthinking, Battle Stress, Stop Spiraling, and Start Living

We've all experienced the displeasure of overthinking and how it seems to permeate every inch of our lives. However, Calm Your Thoughts has answers for how to lessen the chance we'll turn to our familiar frenemy. From learning how to remain calm in stressful situations to not letting your anxiety control your day, you'll learn how to embrace a life that doesn't involve choosing to be stressed.

Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts

This Christian-based book offers an answer to those who feel they're being punished on their faith-walk. It's a nice alternative to hearing, "Oh, just get over it," and offers tangible ways to rely on God so that you're able to hold your thoughts captive.

Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Winning the War in Your Mind is another faith-based book that's perfect for those who want to continue learning how not to let every single thought they have control how they live their lives. Combining religion and science, Groeschel's goal is to help you identify harmful, repetitive thoughts so you can break free from them.

You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based on Your Brain Type

Did you know that happiness is more than a feeling? If not, You, Happier helps you understand how happiness is directly linked to our brains. Dr. Amen's work has allowed him to figure out how different brain types are influenced by it and how we can work to be happier.

Fuel Your Brain, Not Your Anxiety: Stop the Cycle of Worry, Fatigue, and Sugar Cravings with Simple Protein-Rich Foods

Anxiety has a way of showing up when we least expect it. Even if we have a good understanding of our triggers, it can still feel hard not to rely on 'comfort' habits or foods. However, Fuel Your Brain, Not Your Anxiety is here to help us make necessary changes. It reveals how foods can affect our emotions and thoughts instead of treating them differently.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself

This is a book that has helped me tremendously. I started reading it during my first year of motherhood and it helped me identify ways I was afraid to set boundaries in different areas of my life. It's a good read for anyone who's struggling to do the same, but wants to be more intentional about how they interact with others and vice versa!

I also recommending using The Set Boundaries Workbook while you read through this book!

The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success

When you hear that someone is fasting, they're usually referring to refraining from eating for a certain period of time. However, there are different types of fasts you can do and one of them involves unsubscribing from negativity. The Negativity Fast breaks down how we're affected by negative things while also sharing techniques to help you focus on positivity.

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery

The Road Back to You is a great read for anyone who's looking for a deeper understanding of Enneagrams and how to identify theirs. Not only that, but it shares how you can discover more of yourself after learning about your personality traits.

Self-Esteem: A Proven Program of Cognitive Techniques for Assessing, Improving, and Maintaining Your Self-Esteem

While it seems like others have a healthy dose of self-esteem, it's possible that you've struggled with yours at different points. If so, you're not alone as we've had ups and downs with ours too. The good thing about Self-Esteem is that it provides therapist-backed techniques that'll help you improve and maintain your confidence.

The Empowerment Paradox: Seven Vital Virtues to Turn Struggle Into Strength

As much as we'd love to live a life that's free from struggles, we're bound to face hardship at some point. Instead of succumbing to it, The Empowerment Paradox wants us to learn how to view whatever we're struggling with differently.

The Happiness Recipe: A Powerful Guide to Living What Matters

This golden book is another example of how much we're in control of our happiness. It shows how we tend to let outside circumstances dictate how we feel and explains why we have the power the change that.

Choose Joy: Relieve Burnout, Focus on Your Happiness, & Infuse More Joy into Your Everyday Life

If the cover doesn't immediately bring a smile to your face, the title should. Choose Joy is a beautiful display of exercises that you can apply to your daily life to reduce everything from stress to how you react to opposing views from well-meaning loved ones.