10 books to read on mental health—from grief to deeping relationships

This is your reminder to pause and reflect on your own wellbeing, and check in on those around you. Be it anxiety, depression, burnout, or just a general malaise, it’s important to stay intentional and proactive about nurturing a healthy mind.

These 10 mental health books offer guidance and tips for cultivating inner peace, lasting joy, and emotional comfort.

Taming the Molecule of More: A Step-by-Step Guide to Make Dopamine Work for You

By Michael Long

Dopamine, “the molecule of more,” is the chemical in our brains that drives us to seek out newer and better things—the latest gadget, the coolest job, the perfect partner. But for many of us, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of never being truly satisfied. Because dopamine can only promise happiness. It can never deliver. That part is up to us. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Michael Long, or view on Amazon

Healing the Modern Brain: Nine Tenets to Build Mental Fitness and Revitalize Your Mind

By Drew Ramsey

This essential guide explores the nine tenets vital to cultivating mental fitness and provides direct, actionable techniques to improve brain function and emotional health. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Drew Ramsey, or view on Amazon

Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance

By Laura Delano

The powerful memoir of one woman’s experience with psychiatric diagnoses and medications, and her journey to discover herself outside the mental health industry. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Laura Delano, or view on Amazon

Ordinary Magic: The Science of How We Can Achieve Big Change with Small Acts

By Gregory Walton

Discover simple psychological shifts that build trust, belonging, and confidence—from the codirector of the Dweck-Walton Lab at Stanford University. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Gregory Walton, or view on Amazon

The Narrowing: A Journey Through Anxiety and the Body

By Alexandra Shaker

An exploration of the connection between anxiety and the body by a clinical psychologist, drawing from the latest research as well as historical and cultural insights through time, arguing that only through understanding anxiety’s role in our lives can we transform it into resilience. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Alexandra Shaker, or view on Amazon

Validation: How the Skill Set That Revolutionized Psychology Will Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life

By Caroline Fleck

How the science of seeing and being seen is the key to inner and interpersonal transformation. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Caroline Fleck, or view on Amazon

How to Love Better: The Path to Deeper Connection Through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion

By Yung Pueblo

Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are deeply influenced by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and growth, then, Yung Pueblo assures us, we can transform and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Yung Pueblo, or view on Amazon

How Do You Feel?: One Doctor’s Search for Humanity in Medicine

By Jessi Gold

A poignant and thought-provoking memoir following one psychiatrist and four of her patients as they deal with the unspoken mental and physical costs of caring for others. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Jessi Gold, or view on Amazon

The Grief Cure: Looking for the End of Loss

By Cody Delistraty

In this lyrical and moving story of the world of prolonged grief, journalist Cody Delistraty reflects on his experience with loss and explores what modern science, history, and literature reveal about the nature of our relationship to grief and our changing attitudes toward its cure. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Cody Delistraty, or view on Amazon

How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists

By Ellen Hendriksen

Are you your own toughest critic? Learn to be good to yourself with this clear and compassionate guide. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Ellen Hendriksen, or view on Amazon

This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.