Trigger Warning: Please, if you have mental health problem, be warned that the following books can trigger further problems with depression.
Whether you’re looking to understand a bit more about depression, anxiety, and self-harm, or you yourself have struggled with any of these issues, please know that there is help out there. Although, sometimes it’s helpful knowing that someone, somewhere out there in the universe, gets it. Someone understands what you’re going through. Someone knows how you feel. The following young adult novels depict just what it is like living a life that leaves you feeling vulnerable, numb, and helpless.
1. "All The Things I Never Said" by Mae Krell
In this collection of poetry and journal entries, Ma Krell chronicles the heartbreak, happiness, and sadness that come along with being a teenager.
2. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
When Hannah Baker commits suicide, she leaves behind a set of tapes. She had recorded the 13 events that occurred, which led to her decision to end her life. Each tape event is directed towards certain person, and each person must listen to Hannah’s reasoning and pass on the message.
3. Paperweight by Meg Haston
17-year-old Stevie is going through an eating-disorder treatment center on the outskirts of the New Mexico desert. Stevie struggles not only with an eating disorder, but with the mistakes of her past, and whether she can ever move past either.
4. Break by Hannah Moskowitz
Jonah is intent on breaking every bone in his body in the hopes that doing so will allow him to come back stronger than he was before. That’s what bones do, right? He’s hoping that by doing so, he’ll deal with everything that is falling apart in his life. But will it help?
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky
Quiet, observant wallflower Charlie experiences the bizarre world between adolescence and adulthood, as he is caught between living his life and running from it.
6. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda lives her high school life as an outcast. The more isolated she feels, the more she stops speaking. Eventually, Melinda is forced to deal with horrific events of her past, and learn the importance of speaking up for herself.
7. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
When Craig has big plans for his future. When he goes to a new school, he is ready for the best, but reality sets in when he experiences the worst. The realization that he is not what he thought he was leaves him suicidal, which lands him in a mental hospital, and the chance to finally confront his problems.
8. Cut by Patricia McCormick
Callie has a problem. She cuts herself. Not very deep, and not with the intensions of suicide, but enough to feel pain. This brings her to a treatment facility, Sea Pines, where she is left with only one option – speaking to someone about why she does what she does.
9. Willow by Julia Hoban
When 16-year-old Willow’s parents drink too much, they ask her to drive them home, a ride which results in Willow spinning out of control in a rainstorm. Her parents died in that accident. Willow now blocks out the pain by cutting herself. Her world is turned upside down by Guy, a boy who is on her level of complication.
10. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Impulse will take you inside Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for people who have attempted suicide. Readers will follow the stories of three different people and why they decided enough was enough.
