"While professionals agree that bibliotherapy isn’t a mainstream methodology or a replacement for professional therapy, it can be a beneficial part of the therapeutic process. . . . I’m not claiming that books can be a substitute for therapy, [but] within the right context, I believe they can serve as valuable touchstones, conversation starters, and companions. " ~Erin E. Moulton
Here is a sampling of realistic fiction that includes main characters dealing with a mental health issue.
Here are a few titles that involve characters dealing with Bipolar Disorder.
Little and Lion by
Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and grapples with her bisexual identity when she and her brother Lionel fall in love with the same girl, pushing Lionel's bipolar disorder to spin out of control and forcing Suzette to confront her own demons
All the Bright Places by
Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, both teetering on the edge, it's the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the "natural wonders" of the state of Indiana, and two teens' desperate desire to heal and save one another
Here are a few titles that include characters dealing with depression.
Thirteen Reasons Why by
High school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide, and spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by
When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.
Hold Still by
Caitlin wrestles with her feelings of devastation and helplessness after her friend Ingrid commits suicide, and she turns to her family and newfound friends for help while encountering love, broadening her horizons, and using Ingrid's journal to heal.
The Bell Jar by
Chronicles the mental breakdown of Esther Greenwood--a brilliant, beautiful, talented, and successful young woman.
The Memory of Light by
When Victoria Cruz wakes up in the psychiatric ward of a Texas hospital after her failed suicide attempt, she still has no desire to live, but as the weeks pass, and she meets Dr. Desai and three of the other patients, she begins to reflect on the reasons why she feels like a loser compared with the rest of her family, and to see a path ahead where she can make a life of her own.
It's Kind of a Funny Story by
A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital.
Belzhar by
Jam Gallahue, fifteen, unable to cope with the loss of her boyfriend Reeve, is sent to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont, where a journal-writing assignment for an exclusive, mysterious English class transports her to the magical realm of Belzhar, where she and Reeve can be together.
Get Well Soon by
Anna Bloom, confined to a mental hospital by her parents who do not know how to deal with her depression and panic attacks, writes letters to her best friend Tracy sharing the funny details of her life and the people she is getting to know at Lakeland.
Here are a few titles that include characters dealing with anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder.
Wintergirls by
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.
Identical by
Sixteen-year-old identical twin daughters of a district court judge and a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella desperately struggle with secrets that have already torn them and their family apart.
Faerie by
Days away from turning eighteen, Lila has resolved to end her life. She is a patient in a psychiatric hospital being treated for anorexia. Lila tells the story of how she ended up on the Four East wing: we flash back to her childhood in the eighties, growing up in a small town as the overweight brown kid of Punjabi immigrant parents: her father, a literary scholar whom she idolizes, and her mother, a housewife.
Here are a few titles with characters dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Turtles All the Way Down by
Aza Holmes is a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
Say What You Will by
Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized. When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
Every Last Word by
Consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off, a girl coping with Purely-Obsessional OCD learns to accept herself and take control of her life through her experiences in poetry club.
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by
Adam not only is trying to understand his OCD, while trying to balance his relationship with his divorced parents, but he's also trying to navigate through the issues that teenagers normally face, namely the perils of young love.
OCD, the Dude, and Me by
Danielle Levine stands out even at her alternative high school--in appearance and attitude--but when her scathing and sometimes raunchy English essays land her in a social skills class, she meets Daniel, another social misfit who may break her resolve to keep everyone at arm's length.
OCD Love Story by
Bea knows she has a problem, and she's getting help. When she meets Beck, she thinks she might have found a normal life after all. But then, why does she keep stalking this other guy?
Here are a few titles with characters dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Impossible Knife of Memory by
Hayley Kincaid and her father move back to their hometown to try a 'normal' life, but the horrors he saw in the war threaten to destroy their lives
Chasing Shadows by
Holly and Savitri find their friendship in trouble after the death of their friend Corey and Holly's insistence to find his killer, despite the danger in it.
Reality Boy by
An emotionally damaged seventeen-year-old boy in Pennsylvania who was once an infamous reality television show star, meets a girl from another dysfunctional family, and she helps him out of his angry shell
Complicit by
**Also addresses depression.
Jamie's mother was murdered when he was six, about seven years later his sister Cate was incarcerated for burning down a neighbor's barn, and now Jamie, fifteen, learns that Cate has been released and is coming back for him, blaming him for all the bad things that led to her arrest.
Charm and Strange by
A lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy must either surrender his sanity to the wild wolves inside his mind or learn that surviving means more than not dying.
Sex and Violence by
*also addresses Anxiety
Sex has always come without consequences for Evan. Until the night when all the consequences land at once, leaving him scarred inside and out
Here are a few titles that include characters dealing with schizoprenia.
I Will Save You by
Kidd, unhappy with his life in a group home and job at the beach, learns lessons about identity, love, and friendship through his relationships with Olivia, a rich girl from Cardiff, and Devon, a mysterious teen driven by a death wish.
Challenger Deep by
In Caden's real world, he has family, friends, and high school but he is paranoid people are trying to kill him. In his other world, he is a crew member on a pirate ship, struggling between his alligiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny. Slowly, his parents realize he is dealing with schizophrenia.