A book bag for a mental pick-me-up

Writers have the unique ability to put our emotions into flawlessly accurate words, especially when we’re struggling to describe or understand them. Books can make us feel less alone in the world when we consider that at least one other person on this planet knows how we’re feeling, even if we may not know them directly. I’ve always been a “shut-out-the-world” type of person, and often times, I comfort myself with a good book. Mental illness or not, everyone experiences the ups and downs that come naturally with life. Slumps happen and that’s okay, but my way out is to get lost in a good book. Whether they give me a sense of self-understanding or a sense of connection, books are my go-to when feeling down. These books in particular have helped me when I needed a little pick-me-up.

1. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I first read this book in the ninth grade and have reread it several more times since then. Never has a protagonist been so relatable. I couldn’t help but feel connected to Charlie as a character and marvel at the way John put indescribable feelings on paper and made them come alive through a band of misfits. Perks was there for me at a time in my life when I was changing at an uncontrollable pace and at a time when growing up didn’t make much sense. Fast forward seven years later and growing up still doesn’t make much sense. No matter what age you’re coming into, Charlie’s letters will give you hope for a time when the good days outweigh the bad days and give you comfort in the fact that the bad days don’t always disappear for everyone.

Relatable quote: “I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”

Favourite quote: “All the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. and that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing ‘unity.”

2. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

For the moments in life when you just feel down for no reason, this book will make you feel a little less crazy. At a particularly low point in my life, I wandered into a Barnes and Noble in Orlando, FL on vacation a few days from Christmas. I was feeling devoid of all Christmas spirit and wanted an excuse to hole up in my room for a couple of days. I didn’t expect to find a book that I could connect with so much. This book is an honest depiction of a stay in a mental health facility and what it’s like to face mental health issues as a teenager when there doesn’t seem to be a “legitimate” reason for your sadness. As a quasi-memoir by an author who passed away in December, this account has become even more meaningful.

Relatable quote: “I work. And I think about work, and I freak out about work, and I think about how much I think about work, and I freak out about how much I think about how much I think about work, and I think about how freaked out I get about how much I think about how much I think about work “

Favourite quote: “I don’t know how I can be so ambitious and so lazy at the same time”

3. Looking for Alaska by John Green

Some may find me a little morbid for putting this book on here considering that it centers around a death, however, this book taught me that we all suffer and we may feel like we’re stuck in an endless cycle of suffering, but there is always a way out even when there doesn’t seem like it. This book also fuels my fascination with last words.

Relatable quote: “Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present”

Favourite quote: “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail”

4. My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel

Using anecdotes, history, psychology, and science, Scott Stossel writes a brilliant piece of nonfiction that makes me feel normal. When I can’t understand why being in a crowd makes me hyperventilate or why I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, this book is a great comfort as it provides scientific reasons.

Relatable & Favourite quote: “To some people, I may seem calm. But if you could peer beneath the surface, you would see that I’m like a duck--paddling, paddling, paddling.”