I am not shy about admitting that I am prone to depression. Throughout my life, I have been in some really deep depressions along with overwhelming feelings of anxiety. I try to read as much as I can to understand mental health issues and learn how to help myself and others. These are some really good books that I recommend if you or a loved one is suffering.
The more I read, the more I think just about everyone deals with one thing or another but its HOW to overcome or how to react in a constructive way that’s the hard part. I have found that I learn little things here and there and have been able to use the skills to help me cope. It’s not easy.
I have a Pinterest board here where I post helpful Mental Health articles. Take a look!
A while back I did a six-week outpatient program that used Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, I found it to be extremely helpful. I bought this book so I could learn more and I highly recommend it. Everyone should read it and learn the tools, they are so helpful in dealing with the stress that comes with life!
Here’s what you need to know:
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by Matthew Mc Kay, Jeffrey C. Wood and Jeffrey Brantley.
First developed for treating borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems, especially for those characterized by overwhelming emotions. Research shows that DBT can improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively. In order to make use of these techniques, you need to build skills in four key areas-distress tolerance, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors, offers straightforward, step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change. Start by working on the introductory exercises and, after making progress, move on to the advanced-skills chapters. Whether you are a professional or a general reader, whether you use this book to support work done in therapy or as the basis for self-help, you’ll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions.
This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.
If you or someone you love has Borderline Personality Disorder, you need this book. I try to learn as much as I can when something comes up and lately I am dealing with BPD and a loved one.
I Hate You Don’t Leave Me by Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus
After more than two decades as the essential guide to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), this new edition now reflects the most up- to-date research that has opened doors to the neurobiological, genetic, and developmental roots of the disorder as well as connections between BPD and substance abuse, sexual abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, ADHD, and eating disorders.
Both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic advancements point to real hope for success in the treatment and understanding of BPD.
This expanded and revised edition remains as accessible and useful as its predecessor and will reestablish this book as the go-to source for those diagnosed with BPD, their family, friends, and colleagues, as well as professionals and students in the field.
This is a book chock full of information written in an easy to understand style that will enlighten the reader. I actually took my daughter to the author, Dr. Miklowitz eight years ago for a diagnosis when we needed to understand what was going on with her. This book is now in its 3rd addition, updated with such valuable info. I highly recommend it if you need to learn the ins and outs of bipolar disorder.
The Bipolar Survival Guide by David J. Miklowitz is the third edition of a very popular book about bipolar disorder.
Over 275,000 bipolar sufferers and their loved ones have found the crucial information and support they need in this indispensable guide, now in a thoroughly updated third edition. Trusted authority David J. Miklowitz explains the nature and causes of bipolar illness and provides science-based strategies for coping with mood episodes, reducing recurrences, avoiding misdiagnosis, getting the most out of medications and psychotherapy, and making lifestyle changes to stay well. Readers love the easy-to-understand tone, vivid stories, practical tools, and problem-solving advice, including ways to strengthen relationships strained by the illness. Updated throughout, the third edition has a new chapter on kids and teens; the latest facts on medications and therapy, including important advances in personalized care; boxes on the pros and cons of complementary and alternative treatments; expanded coverage of the bipolar II subtype; and downloadable practical tools.
If you haven’t read Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, you should! It’s so encouraging, I loved it. I am looking forward to starting The First Writings of Napoleon Hill Truthful Living by Jeffrey Gitomer.
For me, living with depression is such a struggle and I need lots of words of encouragement and positivity. I don’t always want to read text book type books and thats where this one comes in. Fascinating on how your mind and your thoughts can influence much of your life.
Twenty years before the publication of his magnum opus Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill was an instructor, philosopher, and writer at the George Washington Institute in Chicago, where he taught courses in advertising and sales. These rare, never-before-seen lectures were thought to be lost to history. Until now.
Given exclusive access to the archives of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, Jeffrey Gitomer has unearthed Hill’s original course notes containing the fundamental beliefs in hard work and personal development that established Hill as a global leader of success and positive attitude.
In Truthful Living, Gitomer has captured Hill’s foundational wisdom for the twenty-first century. These easy-to-implement real-world strategies for life, family, business, and the bottom line prove as energizing and inspiring today as they were nearly one hundred years ago.
How to Be Alone by Lane Moore isn’t a self-help book or one about mental illness but I included it because I think you might find some encouragement within the pages of this book. I enjoy reading about people’s struggles and how they get through life. Especially those who are introverted like myself.
Lane Moore is a rare performer who is as impressive onstage—whether hosting her iconic show Tinder Live or being the enigmatic frontwoman of It Was Romance—as she is on the page, as both a former writer for The Onion and an award-winning sex and relationships editor for Cosmopolitan. But her story has had its obstacles, including being her own parent, living in her car as a teenager, and moving to New York City to pursue her dreams. Through it all, she looked to movies, TV, and music as the family and support systems she never had.
From spending the holidays alone to having better “stranger luck” than with those closest to her to feeling like the last hopeless romantic on earth, Lane reveals her powerful and entertaining journey in all its candor, anxiety, and ultimate acceptance—with humor always her bolstering force and greatest gift.
How to Be Alone is a must-read for anyone whose childhood still feels unresolved, who spends more time pretending to have friends online than feeling close to anyone in real life, who tries to have genuine, deep conversations in a roomful of people who would rather you not. Above all, it’s a book for anyone who desperately wants to feel less alone and a little more connected through reading her words.
More on mental health…
