YA Books About Mental Illness That Changed My Life
I’ve been obsessed with YA books about mental illness for a long time. This is probably because I was always trying to understand my own anxiety and reading was a way for me to get rid of that negative energy (odd given that the subject matter is so dark sometimes, but reading about other people’s problems made mine seem trivial). With my obsession came my need to write my own story dealing with mental illness. It was actually my thesis for my master’s degree in English. I’ll talk more about that below (and it’s also part of this list because it quite literally changed my life). Whether you’re dealing with depression, anxiety, OCD, self-harm, bipolar disorder, or something else entirely, these YA novels will give you a reason to believe that you can get better (because you absolutely 100% can if you believe in yourself and get help).
Every Last Word
This is probably the most recent book that I’ve read dealing with mental illness. I heard so many good things about it on TikTok, so it was a no brainer that I was going to eventually read it. Once I did, let me just say, wow. You’ll fall absolutely in love with these characters and their struggles. You’ll also find yourself questioning every social hierarchy in high school, seeing that high school is hard for everyone no matter where they stand in terms of popularity. Check out my review for Every Last Word here.
Mental Illnesses Covered: OCD and depression.
All the Bright Places
This book used to not be as hugely popular as it is now. Although, it definitely got hugely popular for a reason. This novel deals heavily with grief and depression, but also a lot about what it means to be alive. There were a lot of things that I loved about this novel, but also a lot of things that I didn’t like (but I can’t get into that without spoilers). Just know that you’ll see very accurate representations of mental illness here and if that’s what you need, then this is definitely a book for you.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Depression and bipolar disorder.
Girl in Pieces
I probably read this book five years before I even started this blog. While it was a (very) long time ago, I still remember how it made me feel after finishing it. There’s a lot of pain and heartache in this novel, but there’s also a lot that makes you remember why we keep going. Girl in Pieces deals with cutting and self-harm, but not necessarily suicidal thoughts. The main thing this novel taught me is sometimes people don’t want to die when they self-harm. They just want to feel something other than the pain in their own minds.
Mental Illnesses Covered: PTSD and self-harm.
Chaos Theory
I actually got to read an ARC copy of this novel and I absolutely fell in love with its characters. This one is a little less doom and gloom and a lot more uplifting than some of the other books in this list while still maintaining beautiful representation of mental illness. If you’re looking for a novel to help you cope with mental illness while also making you a little happier, this is definitely the one for you.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Bipolar disorder.
The Words We Keep
The Words We Keep really took me by surprise, but I absolutely loved it. The way that the main characters OCD and anxiety are written felt so similar to some of the anxiety that I feel everyday. I related to her struggles and her inner self-doubt on another level. I wish my high school self would’ve found this novel because it gave me so much to think about and taught me more than I would’ve ever guessed.
Mental Illnesses Covered: OCD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression.
Words on Bathroom Walls
I think Words on Bathroom Walls was my very first book review (don’t judge how basic the review is if you go check it out, I was basically a baby blogger). Some of the main things that I got from this novel were acceptance and learning to live with the brain that you have. While I’m sure we all wish at times that we could just stop ourselves from being depressed/anxious/bipolar/etc., that’s just not how it works. In this book, you’ll get a lot of warmth and love and understanding, which is so so important when it comes to mental illnesses.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Schizophrenia.
Goodbye Days
When I first read the scene where the main character has a panic attack (it’s in the first dozen or so pages so no spoilers here), I felt triggered enough that I had to take a step back. This is your warning if you have panic attacks because the scene was intense. But it was also real. The thing about novels that cover mental illnesses is that they have to be real and true in order to help people who don’t necessarily deal with these issues understand them as best as they can. The anxiety and panic attacks in Goodbye Days? Yeah, those were completely accurate in my opinion. You also get a lot of good coping ideas, too, which is how you can tell the author did their research.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Anxiety and panic disorders.
The Way I Used to Be
There’s so much that I could say about this book. It broke my heart. It completely destroyed me. But it changed me, and that’s how a novel should be. It made me look around and wonder why people act the way they do. Mainly, it made me understand that no matter how someone is acting, you truly can’t judge them because you don’t know their situation. I read this over a decade ago. I can still tell you the whole plot, the main characters name, and what happens at the end. It impacted me that much. Just a trigger warning, though: it depicts sexual assault, so tread lightly. Check out my full review for The Way I Used to Be here.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Depression.
All the Little Things
I feel weird including my own novel in a list, but here’s the truth: writing All the Little Things changed my life. That’s what this list is about, so I feel justified in adding it here.
Before writing this novel, I had a lot of problems with anxiety and panic attacks. I’m not sure if I just came to terms with my anxiety, or if writing was therapeutic enough to help me get through, but this story did so much for me. It was my thesis project for my master’s, so I put a huge amount of research into these mental illnesses to make sure that I did it justice for all of us who actually go through it daily. This story will always have my heart and it absolutely changed my life. I just hope that it can change other people’s lives for the better as well.
Mental Illnesses Covered: Anxiety, panic disorders, and depression.
There’s my list of the top YA novels about mental illness that changed my life. The main thing that all of these books have in common is how accurately they depict the illness that they’re representing. Without the accuracy, you can’t truly learn anything from reading the story. I appreciate each and every one of these authors that poured their heart and souls into these stories. I hope they know just how much they mean to me.
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