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From addiction and cutting to depression and bipolar disorder: a list of memoirs and autobiographical books by women describing their struggles.
artwork courtesy of www.jolenesiana.comThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Prozac Nation and More, Now, Again by Elizabeth Wurtzel
Live Through This: On Creativity and Self Destruction edited by Sabrina Chapadjiev
Girl in Need of a Tourniquet by Merri Lisa Johnson
Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter by Jolene Siana
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison
Madness: A Bipolar Life and Wasted by Marya Hornbacher
Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat: A Story of Bulimia by Stephanie Covington Armstrong
Divided Minds: Twin Sisters and Their Journey Through Schizophrenia by Pamela Spiro Wagner and Carolyn S. Spiro
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig
Willow Weep For Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression by Meri Nana-Danquah
I Don’t Want to Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas
Love Sick by Sue Willam Silverman
Gone to the Crazies: A Memoir by Alison Weaver
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
Shoot the Damn Dog by Sally Brampton
Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4D by Lizzie Simon
Get Me Out of Here by Rachel Rieland
Dear Diary by Lesley Arfin
How I Made it to Eighteen by Tracy White
Life Inside: A Memoir by Mindy Lewis
The Heart Too Long Suppressed : A Chronicle of Mental Illness by Carol Hebald
The Looney-Bin Trip by Kate Millett
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Rethink mental illness:
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Comments
Let's not forget The Yellow
Submitted by Anonymous on January 24, 2011 at 5:44 PM.
Let's not forget The Yellow Wallpaper
Yellow Wallpaper!
Submitted by everettdashlane on January 24, 2011 at 5:57 PM.
How can you forget Charlotte Perkins Gilman's fabulous story, "The Yellow Wallpaper"? A classic.
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1447453
Thanks!
Submitted by Marie C. Hansen on January 24, 2011 at 7:26 PM.
Thanks for the comments! I didn't include The Yellow Wallpaper in the list because it is a short story (not novel-length) and more fictional than the other titles I listed (based on Gilman's life, but not a direct memoir). There are so many great choices, it was hard to pick!
Thanks again!
kingston, the woman warrior
Submitted by benjamin on January 24, 2011 at 11:45 PM.
kingston, the woman warrior
Great List
Submitted by Jill Rothstein on January 25, 2011 at 11:03 AM.
Great idea for a list, thanks!
The Women Warrior
Submitted by Marie C. Hansen on January 25, 2011 at 11:39 AM.
Thanks for commenting, Benjamin. I debated about adding the Women Warrior before I published this list, but I read it so long ago (in college), that I forgot how much of the novel was focused on mental illness. Now I see that I should include it, Thanks!
Also, Thanks Jill! :)
addition...
Submitted by Bettina Judd on January 27, 2011 at 6:01 PM.
Why not _A Healing_ by Gayle Jones or even _Possessing the Secret of Joy_ by Alice Walker?
Men Can Be Crazy Too
Submitted by Liz on January 27, 2011 at 6:09 PM.
Let's not perpetuate the myth of female hysteria. How about a list of books concerning men and mental illness?
great list Marie!
Submitted by Ursula Murphy on January 28, 2011 at 3:44 PM.
and the last comment is a good idea for a follow up.
Perpetuating Myth
Submitted by Marie Hansen on January 29, 2011 at 12:31 AM.
@Bettina Thanks! I'll check those books out.
@Liz The list is female-only because I am personally fascinated by women's experiences of "illness" (as well as the societal perception of such women within their cultural context).
No hysteria intended!
@Ursula Thanks! I haven't read too many male ones but I love, love, love "Songs from The Black Chair" by Charles Barber
Thank you
Submitted by Anonymous on February 19, 2011 at 9:58 PM.
I write a blog on radical mental health, and this list is incredibly helpful. Thank you!
Thanks
Submitted by Marie C. Hansen on February 22, 2011 at 11:23 AM.
Thanks for the comment. I would love to read your blog. Can you post a link here or e-mail me: Marie_Hansen@nypl.org
Thanks!
mental health
Submitted by Dawn on May 29, 2012 at 10:54 PM.
Thanks for the info! Are any of these books comprised of short stories about the struggles of mental illness and individuals that have experienced recovery? If not, do you have any recomendations of books/resources like this?
Hi Dawn!
Submitted by Marie Hansen on May 31, 2012 at 10:36 AM.
One of the best resources for first-person experiences is Gail Hornstein's bibliography:
http://www.gailhornstein.com/files/Bibliography_of_First_Person_Narrativ...
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