May means Mental Health Awareness Month!
Which means…I fully intended to blog about it and then waited till the last moment to do so. Procrastination? 😌👌🏻It’s a skill set. I excel. Although if I’m truthful instead of just gently dragging myself — I’ve just been busy this month. Editing. Reading wildly. Wistfully thinking about naps. Being stressed as one does.
But let’s focus up and talk about books!
I’ve been passionate about good mental health rep in YA books for a long, long time. As someone who has their own highs and lows with mental illness, I feel a tug towards characters who deal with the same things and books that lay the stark truths down on the table. I also really, really like to learn more about different neurodiversities and just understand people better.
And I am oh so tired of bad mental health rep. Do you know what that looks like? Stereotypes. Characters with no personality beyond their label. Villains needing an excuse for evil. Characters “cured” after falling in love. Plot twists where it wasn’t an illness at all, they just belonged in a magical world [cue jazz hands]. Horrifying asylums. Characters realising ‘positive thinking’ can cure them.
…I am exhausted writing that list because it’s not even an exaggeration. These happen all the time in YA books. Still. And I do think it often happens out of ignorance — authors don’t think to push past a stereotype or they write a book with no intent to harm, but the research is just shoddy. It’s not an excuse though. Books have to do better because readers deserve better. Mental illnesses aren’t imaginary conditions, so if you’re going to write something you haven’t lived, know what you’re doing.
So today we’re going to talk about…
10 Things I Want To See More of In YA Books About Mental Health
I have been left with cravings here and a void that needs filling! There are so many excellent YA books dealing with mental healths, but…there are also holes. Books DO exist that cover these things. I just want more. So good news — you get to hear my wishlist. 😌
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE 👀
➸ YA Anxiety Book Recommendations
➸ How To Keep Writing When You Have a Mental Illness
➸ What It’s Like To Write An #Ownvoices Novel
…everyone to remember mental illness looks different on different people.
This is cheating for my list a bit, because what I need is for readers and reveiwers to acknowledge this. So so often (and this hurts my soul) I see people denouncing mental illness rep as “bad” because they don’t relate. “My depression looks nothing like that?!” someone rants in a review. 1-star.
Everyone is entitled to feel what they want about a book and you can hate something all you want. But there needs to be acknowledgement that two depressed people can go through depression differently. Minority rep that isn’t exactly like yours ≠ bad rep.
Especially when there’s other things to consider, like privilege, race, class, co-morbid neurodiveristies, etc. Plus science doesn’t KNOW all there is to know about mental illnesses. There are lists of diagnostic material, but some people don’t fit it neatly and yet still have the mental illness. Humans smh. They are complex creatures.
…fantasy with mental health rep.
Look those of us with mental illness didn’t appear with the invention of the iPhone. We have been HERE, dysfunctional and internally screaming, since forever. 🙌🏻 I want to see fantasy books where mental illness plays a bigger role. But accurate and respectfully. Because I’m over the villain being “insane” and there being the “one slow village pig boy” who the hero saves occasionally to prove they are a good person.
I want to see: anxious dragon riders. Bipolar librarians. Knights with OCD. Witches with panic attacks.
Mental illness can be uncontrollable and wild and diminishing. And they’re not rare. So, so many people struggle with them. So let us have adventures too?!
…more of the small details of life with a mental illness.
The problem with rep that relies on stereotypes is that it feels ingenuine because it skips the details. Yes, some people with depression can’t get out of bed for days on end. But if that’s ALL the book says about their depression, it comes across lacking depth. You know what else depressed people might struggle with? Executive dysfunction. Memory loss. Weight loss/gain due to medication. Hyper fixations. Insomnia. The list goes on.
I kind of want to see this in books more?? Characters who can’t get organised, forget the random things (haven’t changed clothes in a few days but are studying at a famous school), morose exhaustion, illegible handwriting, who are smothered by the guilt of things they used to be able to do but can’t.
…finding friends (not just love).
I am very over the “romance cured my depression” dialogue. You can put that in a blender and make a problematic smoothie with it. But sometimes I feel books jumped the other way and made mentally ill characters do it ALL ALONE. You are going to be a strong independent brave little YA character and need no help…
It’s so sad.
Having friends and a supportive family when you have mentally illness can (and I don’t say it lightly) save your life. Being able to talk, rant, lean on someone, be affirmed that you’re not a burden…these are so amazing. I want to read about characters who have tight, close friendships. Who find good friends. Who’ve had them all along. Literally nothing melts my heart faster than characters who are there for each other — no matter what messes their brains make.
I read a book recently that gutted me because one character had a severely depressed younger sister. But the character’s arc? “It’s not your job to fix her!” Um. That is true on a basic level. But leaving your sister to suffer alone is one of the coldest takes I’ve ever read in a book. There’s balance. A mentally ill person isn’t someone else’s sole responsibility. But don’t leave people. And don’t tell teens they’re a burden. Literally can’t underline this enough.
…give mentally ill characters plots!
Some mental illness books are “issue books” which means they deal with it and not much else. Which is fine! We need those. (I read How It Feels To Float and it’s about disassociation, specifically, and it was amazing!) But I want to see more books where the mental health rep is there — front and centre and impacting the plot — but also I want to see a plot. Where the finale isn’t a breakdown. Where the character has this complex, full life.
Darius the Great Is Not Okay is an example I love for this. Darius’ depression is a huge part of the book…but the plot is also about visiting his Persian family and healing his relationship with his dad. Iphigenia Murphy is about a homeless girl searching for her mother, but she also is dealing with intense PTSD.
…characters who have mental illnesses for “no reason”.
“You have anxiety? What traumatic experience did you have?” Uhh…maybe your brain is just chemically unbalanced? Maybe it just happened? Mental illness doesn’t always come with One Big Event that triggered it.
I want more of this. This isn’t dissing books where an event lead to a traumatised reaction, brains that struggle to heal, and permanent scars. We need those. But we also need stories about characters who are depressed because they’re genetically predispositioned to it. Where agoraphobia happens after anxiety builds up over years. Eating disorders that come on subtly.
I feel like a lot of people can’t pinpoint the exact moment (or “reason”) their mental illness began. It doesn’t make it any less valid.
…more diverse identities too!
Because middle class white straight people aren’t the only ones with mental illnesses. I’ve been reading way more books lately with intersectional identities and it’s making me happy. But more of this!
Like Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now has a black narrator who has OCD and alopecia. In The Wicker King, August is black/biracial with anxiety. The Weight Of Our Sky is about a Malaysian with OCD. Moss, from Anger Is A Gift, is black, gay and anxious. Radio Silence has an anxious, queer, black narrator with queer mentally ill secondary characters too!
I also quietly seethe when people say “woah isn’t that a bit much diversity?” NO. People like this exist. I preferably like to read #ownvoices books when its representing several identities, but these kind of books aren’t just here “for the cookies” (what does that even mean?!).
…labels on the page to combat stigma.
Some people are against being labelled and I can respect that. Each to their own. But I believe it’s empowering to have language to describe yourself. Instead of internally crying, “I’m crazy I’m crazy” — you can have the language to say “no I have a panic disorder”.
I read a lot of books where it’s not explicitly stated what the character is dealing with. This leaves me feeling like…either (1) the book is anti-labelling, or (2) it doesn’t want to explicitly say so it can deny later in case the rep was bad. Then the an author can pull the “actually I never said they had bipolar” card and deny bad rep.
Sometimes the characters just doesn’t know themselves, which is fine!! Figuring out what’s going on with yourself is not easy!! But there are a lot of times when good rep could be given exact labels and actually raise awareness for what it’s truly like. You can’t walk away from a book feeling like you understand personality disordesr better if the book DIDN’T SAY that’s what it’s about. I always felt Turtles All The Way Down was an INCREDIBLE #ownvoices narrative of OCD. But the actual term “OCD” was never never used on page, just in John Green’s interviews. This chaffs at me because a teen could read this, relate, and still walk away having no idea how to get more information about themselves.
Use ur words.
…more #ownvoices stories.
This is probably an obvious and a given, but I just…!! Want to loudly say we need these stories. I also feel so hard for authors who do bare their souls on page and write about their experiences. It isn’t easy to have your personal life ripped apart by readers, your vulnerable moments offered up for critique and analysation. I’ve written something personal and true to my life only to have a reviewer call it “unrealistic”. It’s hard.
Kind of think #ownvoices authors are badass.
…happy endings.
I say this without diminish books where the endings are devastating too — because as hard as it is to have a story end in death or irreversible damage, those stories are still important. You can’t just say something is too ugly, too painful, and shouldn’t be talked about. That’s HOW we get stuck in a cycle of mentally ill people hurting themselves. It’s not always written for shock value.
THAT saying…gah, but I love a story layered with hope amongst the pain and ashes. It makes my heart swell with so much happiness. I can’t even describe. There is so so much room for YA books where characters with mental illness don’t get cured but do get a goodly-ever-after.
tell me what you’d like to see more of in YA books about mental health? and what books have your favourite rep!!
OH MY GOSH, YES TO ALL OF THIS. Absolutely want more #ownvoices and more diversity (ALWAYS) also I DIE for a good friendship. like,, can we just have characters supporting each other and being kind?? not everything hasssss to end in a romance. CAN OUR NEEDS JUST BE ME PLS
it would be so nice to see books more often where the friendships are strong and last!? 🥺 makes me so sad when they lose friends due to having a breakdown (although I know it’s realistic!!) but like this is a book. Give us good friendships and dragons everywhere please 😭
yes oh my gosh can they just??? stick around?? and be good to one another?? and support each other???*sobs* Date Me, Bryson Keller (while not being about mental health) had great friendships with 00000.000 drama and it was fantastic? refreshing? needed? all of the above?
Bryson Keller was so WHOLESOME and I hate that I was so surprised. We need more books like that 🥺🙌🏻
ikr??? I just want wholesome books until forever??? I was surprised too, but only because I bought it on a whim + hadn’t seen reviews on it yet!!
I’d definitely like to see more mental health rep in fantasy, one of my favourites for that is Heidi Heilig’s For A Muse of Fire, it has a bipolar protagonist, which is something I don’t think I’ve seen in many contemporaries let alone fantasies. A lot of fantasy characters obviously deal with a lot of trauma, but we don’t always see them dealing with the repercussions of that. Favourite mental health books? Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall was really great (and ownvoices) though the thought processes of the main character (who has OCD, anxiety and agoraphobia) were so intense, it was a struggle to read at times. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, I also really loved, the way Caden’s hallucinations leak into his everyday life was done so well. Also for fantasy, I thought Tara Sim dealt with Danny’s PTSD and anxiety really well in the first Timekeeper book. I definitely agree that more on page diagnoses would be great, though I can see where this might be difficult in fantasy where the characters might not have a specific word for their illness.
I so so need to read that one still…I can’t believe I haven’t yet ahh. But yes fantasy characters go through a lot of trauma but often seem to just move on? Which is fine for some, but I’d like to see it properly unpacked more. Challenger Deep was incredible. I probably read it like 5 years ago now but I still think about it.
YES YES YES I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING I WANT ALL THIS SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
ALSO SIDENOTE: TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN LOWKEY MADE ME ANXIOUS BECAUSE IT WAS SO REAL HAHAHHHH
BUT LIKE YEAH SOME OF YOUR PEEVES ABOUT THIS TOPIC ANNOY ME TOO UGH LIKE ESPECIALLY “OH I DON’T RELATE” LIKE YOU SHOULD BE *GLAD* YOU DON’T RELATE BECAUSE THESE ILLNESSES SUUUUUUCCKKKKKKK
IDK WHY I’M TYPING IN ALL CAPS BUT OK
AND I AM DESPERATELY TRYING TO WRITE WITH AN ANXIOUS CHARACTER AND IT’S GOING PRETTY WELL I THINK BUT ALSO, ME BEING THE ANXIOUS PERSON I AM, I’M WORRIED I’M JUST CRAZY?? AND PEOPLE DON’T ACTUALLY FEEL THAT WAY?? BUT I FOUND STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS AND STUFF REALLY HELP ME CEMENT THE IFFY PARTS THAT I MIGHT NOT EXPERIENCE (cause luckily my anxiety levels are decreasing??) AND IT ALSO HELPS ME WITH MY KIND OF EVENTUALLY DEPRESSED CHARACTER BECAUSE I AM VERY NOT DEPRESSED IN ANY WAY HAHAHHAH.
ANYWAY THAT WAS RAMBLY BUT YEAH
ALSO GOOD LUCK ON YOUR LINE EDITS AND STUFF!
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
Turtles honestly made me so so anxious too 🙈But I don’t blame it, I just feel like that underlines how right it got the rep. But it’s a tough one to get through.
And it’s hard to write about something even if we experience it! So I get that. I hope your writing goes well.
Mental health in fantasy books is absolutely something I want to see more of! Especially considering all the things that the characters go through, it would be so great to see how that affects the mental health of characters. I’ve seen a couple books here and there, but not very many at all considering the impact that mental health tends to have on people.
Yes agreeeeed. I think fantasy often touches on ptsd, but not deeply enough? The characters just tend to get over it as they go along to the next stage of their adventure. I’d like to see longer lasting affects and them dealing properly with trauma too?
i absolutely LOVE this list. as i’ve been reading more and more books with mental illness representation, i’ve definitely noticed that there’s still a lot missing there.
i think it’s really interesting what you pointed out about labels, though. i’ve always been a bit meh about labels, because i really don’t like them for myself, and i relate a lot to characters who prefer not to use them to define themselves. i also remember reading challenger deep by neal shusterman where the main character struggled with his diagnosis because he didn’t fit in only “one” label – he wasn’t just schizophrenic and he wasn’t just bipolar. but i think your point makes a lot of sense, too! having a reader go through an entire book where they can relate to the main character, and still walk away not knowing what to do with that information is so far from ideal. words can be very powerful, so i think i understand better now the need for labels in this case, even though it may not work for everyone!
That’s absolutely it about labels! I don’t want to blatantly say “everyone should adhere to a label” anyway, because often times labels are HARD to find. But I remembering being a teen and not even knowing what anxiety was, but half the books I read with good anxiety rep don’t sAY that’s what it is. So I know I would’ve left just as confused. Language is power. It’s helpful when it can be! But shouldn’t be demanded of everyone.
“I want to see: anxious dragon riders. Bipolar librarians. Knights with OCD. Witches with panic attacks.”
I would absolutely read any of those characters. It all sounds amazing, and like they’re completely rich. I have been thinking much of the same about the adventures point lately. I haven’t found many books with characters who have a mental illness but have MORE than just their mental illness. A Curse So Dark And Lonely was a surprise for me, because it was one of the first I’d found where a character had a disability (in this case physical) that impacted the story, but wasn’t THE story.
Any other recos for more?!
We definitely need just more “incidental” diversity rep in books! Like, issue books are important and I will never minimise it…but for sure I just want to see disabled and neurodiverse kids on adventures, queer and POC being heroes, and mentally ill characters living their best lives they can. ACSDAL was amazing for Harper :’)
I recently read Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore (magical realism retelling!) and one of the characters is adjusting to life as they go blind in one eye. Master Of Sorrows hero has one arm and uses a magical prosthetic. You’ve probably read Six of Crows already but there’s chronic pain, dyslexia, adhd, and ptsd rep!
I’m definitely here for more representation! I want to read more about it! Have more awareness.
But as an author I’m always afraid (when it’s not #ownvoice) that the way I will handle it will be bad rep… Because it’s not your experience, you can never really know if what you write is true. I think that can be quite discouraging for some authors. You don’t want to write it badly after all.
But it’s like…doing good research? You wouldn’t write about what it is to have a stab wound (which authors famously look up all the time) without actually researching it. We should be treating mental illness with the same level of care and nuance instead of being worried about “getting into trouble”, etc. Mistakes are always possible, but so are apologies and learning to do better! But authors should be getting sensitivity readers too.
Oh yes of course! Doing research is obviously essential. I was speaking in the case you have done research and you don’t know if it’s enough. ^^
That’s always a worry for sure!! And I think if we writers ARE worried then that’s a good thing. It means we care and are working super hard at it. So that’s when I feel sensitivity readers are crucial. But failing that, I always feel like if I really really don’t know enough about a topic or minority, then why am I writing about it? You know? Sometimes you can tell if something is too far out of your lane if you feel you can’t write it well enough.
Oh I see. In your words, that makes so much sense!
You’re so right about horrible asylums. The only time I want to see them is if the author is using to make a point that they were awful and mistreated the patients there. Oh! And I 100% agree with you that just because you don’t relate to a MI character doesn’t mean that it’s bad! It’s not exactly the same but just because I have yet to relate to any autistic characters that I’ve read does not mean that the rep is bad because there are people out there who will relate to them. And I hate seeing people say that something has “too much diversity” with characters. It’s so annoying to just dismiss people who actually exist.
I really hate asylums in books 😫 usually the character isn’t ill, they’re just trapped there or something, and it’s just used to otherise and demonise truly mentally ill people. Like they deserve to be locked up for being dangerous?! When in reality mentally ill people (especially severe ones) are at most risk of being vulnerable and abused instead of being the abusers.
Also I do get that with the autism rep!! Actually the best autism rep I’ve related to is rarely by #ownvoices authors oops. But yeah there’s SO many ways to be autistic and I think that fact is only becoming more known now? But we desperately just need good autism rep to start with 😂it’s rare.
I also wrote a post about Mental Health Awareness Month and procrastinated so much that I almost missed the month. I would love more books about characters who don’t have a “reason” for their illness. Not everybody has a tragic backstory.
It’s hard to get everything organised 😭I always have great plans and terrible execution for the blog these days. But ahh yes, I feel like so so many people don’t have “a reason” and that in itself can be really hard to work through. Like the guilt of being a mess with “no reason”…so we need more rep to normalise this!
Yes. Friends. Which is crucial at that age for surviving in this big bad world friendships that will last for many years to come. 😍
Absolutely! And mental illness can be so isolating, it’s really nice to read books where the friendships don’t fail.
YES TO ALL OF THIS. Recently I was diagnosed with OCD, and since then I have really been wanting to read more books with OCD rep in them. I read Turtles All the Way Down, but honestly it just confused me a lot because I was like: “I think I experience this, but it would be nice if you were to give it a name so I know I experience it.”
I really want to see more characters who have mental illnesses for no reason… mainly because I am one of them! There wasn’t some big life event that happened for me to get this illness. But, oftentimes in mental illness books the main character has to unlock some trauma that explains why they have their illness. I think this releases a stigma that people with mental illnesses are damaged people. This is totally not it!
Lastly, you hit the nail right on the head with happy endings. Being cured from a mental illness isn’t necessarily possible, however we can live fulfilling, happy lives! I think ending mental illness books on sad endings can sometimes bridge on being triggering too. While these books are totally important (with appropriate trigger warnings!), it would be nice to get some hopeful endings as well 🙂
Thanks for sharing these insightful thoughts! And also thanks for sharing some recommendations as well! I will definitely be looking at the OCD-related ones.
I felt that with Turtles too 😭😭 which is why I am for giving labels? especially if it’s an #ownvoices author. They have such power to add accuracy to a conversation (we know OCD is one that is SO often misunderstood and minimised by media) and then when they don’t I get kind of sad.
Definitely agree that sad endings can be triggering — but I think we still need them? Just definitely with warnings! And no one should ever feel they HAVE to read books with triggering endings (I know I’ve avoided sad books before when I’m not in a good place). I do want more just happy endings 🥺or at least ones with hope.
(Have you read History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera? it’s OCD rep and also #ownvoices and one of my faves)
No, I haven’t read that book! But I have read a few of Adam Silvera’s other books and really enjoyed them. Thanks for the recommendation!
I loved this list so very much! I love how much mental health rep there is in YA recently, but sometimes I can’t help but want more diverse stories, as you said. I think that every person handles anxiety, and depression, and any other number of mental illnesses in very different ways, and I think a lot of stories treat these illnesses in similar ways, even if it’s a nuanced portrayal. I think one book that handled anxiety so very well was You Asked For Perfect, where as the reader you could see all the many ways Ariel’s anxiety was affecting him and your heart went out for him!
The one thing I’d love to see more of in books is a good therapist/psychiatrist, and more positive medication rep. I think that a lot of times when there’s a therapist, they’re either new or the main character hates them. I’d love to see a book where the main character already has an established relationship with a mental health professional that they can trust.
I also would like to see more main characters taking their meds and not hating it! I think that a lot of times when there is a discussion about medication it always focuses on the negative side effects that can happen, and never about the many benefits that a person can gain from taking their meds. I therefore want to see more people glad they have access to medication because of how much it helps them. I know that medication isn’t for everyone, and that there can be dangerous side effects, but the fact that I’ve only seen them portrayed as such really worries me. Sometimes therapy isn’t enough, and chemicals need to be balanced!
Sorry for the long ranty comment! I just really enjoyed your post, and I feel very passionately about this topic! I’ve been dealing with my mental health since I was pretty young, and it’s been an every changing journey. There are so many ways I could see myself represented, and yet I rarely do!
I loved You Asked For Perfect! But yes, there are SO many ways mental health an affect us and how we can show it…and we do get a lot of stories from the same angle (so to speak) so it would be good to have a winder variety of authors able to tell their stories too 🥺 And I agree about better counselling and med rep. Both those things can be hard to find? AND scary. So it would be good to discuss more how life-saving and changing they can be.
And don’t be sorry for the comment! I loved reading your ideas too 😍and yes, exactly…like when we LIVE with this, it’s personal and we deserve to ask for good rep.
I want #2 so baddddd. When you said Knight with OCD, I didn’t know I needed that until you said it. I think it is especially important to put things like this in non-contemporary books. Just because of reach, because I mostly read fantasy. So I’m not exposed to the most diversities, though I do dabble in contemporary. I only dabble. These things should just be universal.
we need someone to write these books for us 😭😭good, respectful and loving rep yes please and thank you!! And I agree, I think mental health rep and a lot of other minorities aren’t as often included in fantasy? It’s getting better but a looooong way to go.
These are FABULOUS and I could not agree more on every one! Especially the friend thing, I feel like it makes SUCH a difference. And maybe even, characters having a hard time making or keeping friends because of their mental illness. Gosh there are just endless possibilities for stories! And yessss so much agreement about having MH rep in other genres, and giving the characters a plot outside of just their illness. And #ownvoices is SO huge, as is diversity, in MH rep. I wish we saw more of it and I hope that the trajectory in which we ARE seeing more continues. Love this so much!!
Oh oh I agree with this!! I definitely would love more stories about the struggles of friendship to!? Although I’m fragile and want happy resolutions there 🥺
Yes to all of this! Most of the times I too feel like a character with a mental illness is on the page just for the sake of it?? It really needs to change. And I would also like to mention, Turtles All the Way Down, which has, hands-down, one of the best mental-illness two.
Loved that book. It felt like a really true representation too.
This is a perfect list! I think if we could see more of these types of books, mental health rep would be fantastic—I especially love your idea of fantasy with mental health issues explored and giving the character with mental health a plot!
Yes to all of these! Thanks for mentioning that book about dissociation – I’ll definitely look up How it Feels to Float – that’s a condition I feel is totally under-represented and when it does come into a story is usually completely misrepresented (like in Split, Fight Club, and the like). My first book (Jane Doesn’t Save the World) is a comedy scifi/fantasy adventure about a main character with a form of dissociation, loosely and humorously based on my own experiences. But I’d love to see MOOOOORRRRE