I am doing another Top Five Wednesday because I find this week’s topic super important, Top Five Wednesday, which right now is taken over by the author Laura A Grace. In fact, I planned to do a post about hacking and scammers since the police from the cybercrime unit called me back.
March 30th: Mental Health
Mental health and the importance of it is increasingly a topic that is being discussed in fiction. In honor of World Bipolar Day, what are some books that touch on or center around the importance of mental health (or show the need for good mental health in light of decisions characters make)?
Goodreads Blurb:
When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.
But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.
Goodreads Blurb:
The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?
Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.
On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.
Goodreads Blurb:
Right before winter break, fourteen-year-old Molly Rosenberg reluctantly volunteers to participate in Santa Monica’s annual homeless count, just to get her school’s community service requirement out of the way. But when she ends up meeting Red, a spirited homeless girl only a few years older than she is, Molly makes it her mission to reunite her with her family in time for Christmas. This turns out to be extremely difficult—because Red refuses to talk about her past. There are things Molly won’t talk about either. Like the awful thing that happened last winter. She may never be ready to talk about that. Not to Red, or to Cristo, the soulful boy she meets while riding the Ferris wheel one afternoon.
When Molly realizes that the friends who Red keeps mentioning are nothing more than voices inside Red’s head, she becomes even more concerned about her well-being. How will Molly keep her safe until she can figure out a way to get Red home? In Sonya Sones’ latest novel, two girls, with much more in common than they realize, give each other a new perspective on the meaning of family, friendship, and forgiveness.
Goodreads Blurb:
Madeline is sent away to Spring Meadows rehab for drinking and rage. At the weekly movie night in town, she meets Stewart, from another rehab nearby. They fall for each other despite the crazy time. Madeline gets out and starts to regain her feet. But when Stewart joins her, both still are severely troubled, and he is getting worse.
Goodreads Blurb:
Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster.
In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.
Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.
But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.
Notes:
The audiobook of Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert is pretty good.
Recovery Road was adapted into a mini-series.
I tried to pick different views of Mental Health from different people.
Alex
Mybookworld24 
I have some mental health recommendations too! So the best way for people to be allies to the mentally ill to become educated about the systemic issues plaguing the mental health system. These systemic issues lead to a myriad of horrible human rights violations. So, I recommend the books ‘Crazy Like Us’ by Ethan Watters, ‘The Emperor’s New Drugs’ ‘Toxic Psychiatry’ and ‘Sickening: How Big Pharma broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It.’ That last one covers all facets of healthcare, not just the mental health system, but it was written by a very credible source (John Abramson is not only a doctor, but also a professor at Harvard Medical School and he was an expert witness in a federal case taken up against Phizer for racketeering and misrepresenting data from drug trials), also, the best thing people can do for the mentally ill is understand the issues caused by pharma financial conflicts of interest, because unlike other types of illness, the mentally ill are often pressured into drug treatment far more aggressively than other people. They aren’t given choices and autonomy over their care. This is why they are most vulnerable to pharma’s influence over research, peer-reviewed journals, and the standards of care set by doctors (with a ton of input from pharma).
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