5 Books That Will Change Your Mental Health Outlook
Post Date: May 08, 2024
Behavioral Health
Sometimes when you’re going through a difficult time, you just need a little help shifting your perspective. Or you might need new information to help you see the way out of your situation. There are a lot of ways to find help, from counseling to behavioral health therapy and medication. If you’re concerned about your mental health, it’s a good idea to seek help from your provider right away or call the national crisis lifeline at 988.
But if you just need a little push in a new direction, you can sometimes find guidance from reading. The best part is this help can be free when you check these books out at your local library. Here are a few titles to help you change your mental health outlook.
Rewire Your Anxious Brain
This book on “how to use the neuroscience of fear to end anxiety, panic, and worry,” by Catherine M. Pittman, PhD, and Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS, can give you a look inside what your brain is doing when you feel anxiety. That understanding can be empowering and help you overcome those reactions in your own life.
The Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the Score can help you learn more about how your body can hold onto trauma, and also how you can work through it. Written by Bessel van der Kolk, a researcher and active working therapist in the field, the book covers real stories of patients and treatments that you can take to apply to your own life.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Written by sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, the book Burnout is “for women (or anyone) who has felt overwhelmed and exhausted by everything they have to do, yet still worried they weren’t doing ‘enough.’” Learn about the symptoms of burnout, see how it might be impacting your life in ways you didn’t expect, and discover how to break the stress cycle and come back from burnout.
Rewired
Rewired by Erica Spiegelman goes beyond just a book to include a whole program to help people dealing with addiction and substance abuse. But you don’t have to get the workbook, pick up her coloring book, and become part of the Rewired Life Community, a growth and recovery-oriented support system, to benefit from what she has to say. As a licensed substance abuse counselor, Spiegelman offers a practical perspective on addiction and recovery in her book.
How to Feel Better
In this “guide to navigating the ebb and flow of life” by Cathy Rentzenbrink, readers can find comfort and inspiration to get through the hard times. Rentzenbrink is an everyday person who has been through her fair share of struggles. She brings in her perspective, along with learnings from philosophies like Stoicism and Marcus Aurelius’s teachings. But what resonates with readers is that she isn’t a doctor or a therapist but someone who’s been through hard times and has come out the other side—with advice to help others.
While books can help, sometimes you need more to boost your mental health. If that’s the case for you, CHP’s behavioral health services across Southwest Montana can be an affordable option to get the care you need. Reach out to a clinic in Livingston, Belgrade, or Bozeman to make an appointment.
