Mental Health in Books

At Pegasus, we all like reading for relaxation and enjoyment, but some books have a deeper subject matter than others.

Consumed by Todd Lawson LaTourette is one of our newest releases. It tells the author’s life story, in particular his struggles with mental illness which began at the age of nineteen. Since then, drastic mood swings have affected every aspect of his life. During basic training for the United States Army he suffered what he refers to as ‘a complete mental upheaval’ from which ‘there seemed to be no return’.

The events of September 11th 2001 caused his already fragile mental state to deteriorate.

Consumed charts his decline and his efforts to regain control of his life, body and mental health. Todd now works as a film and television actor.

Todd’s book has got us thinking. Mental illness effects one in four people in the UK each year with diagnoses including depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD to name just a few. We decided to share five of our favourite books to take on this subject.

• Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig (Cannongate Books, 2015) – At the age of 24, author Matt Haig was suffering with anxiety, depression and ultimately suicidal urges. Reasons To Stay Alive does exactly as the title suggests – showing us why Matt Haig is still alive and writing today, and how he learned to live with his mental illness. Truly inspirational and uplifting.

• I Had a Black Dog: His Name Was Depression by Matthew Johnstone (Constable and Robinson, 2007) – Again drawing on the author’s own experiences, but in an alternative medium. Matthew Johnstone gives his depression a physical form in this beautiful, moving and insightful graphic novel.

• The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (Harper Collins, 2013) – Winner of the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2013, Nathan Filer’s first novel was a book readers couldn’t put down. Following the death of his brother in childhood, the male narrator descends into mental illness. Nathan Filer has worked as a mental health nurse and this gives us an honest and startling insight into the issue.

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey – This is kind of an obvious one. First published in the 1960s, Ken Kesey’s classic tale looks at the brutal regime in a hospital for those suffering from mental illness, with treatment taking the form of mind numbing drugs to pacify patients and the threat of ECT. With the arrival of new inmate McMurphy, Nurse Ratched’s rule over patients is thrown into disarray.

• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking Books, 2014) – Laurie Halse Anderson has never shyed away from bringing serious subjects to a teenage/young adult audience. Speak dealt with sexual assault, bullying and depression. Wintergirls dealt with eating disorders and self-harm. The Impossible Knife of Memory showed a teenage high school student living with her father and coping with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since his return home from Iraq.