It was always a relief it is to see characters in books struggling with the things I do. Yet it was still a shock to see people name those things\u2014names that I had not necessarily associated with myself.<\/p>\n
Because of this, I want to point out some of the books and stories that helped me come to terms with who I am and who I have become, but also books that have helped me see things that I do not experience\u2014or at least don\u2019t experience in the same way.<\/p>\n
What I want to start with is mental health. Because mental health is complicated<\/em>.<\/p>\n First off, there\u2019s shame.<\/p>\n Simon didn\u2019t like this side of himself. The side that saw others\u2019 struggles\u2014 and how simply they could sometimes overcome them\u2014 and raged. Wished he could trade places.<\/p>\n — Roan Parrish<\/a>. Better Than People<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Believing you make things difficult for those around you.<\/p>\n Then I remember that I\u2019ve decided not to be in a bad mood anymore\u2014 not with Griffin, which should be easy, since hurting him makes me flinch every time. And not with myself, which will be harder, because hurting me has become a habit.<\/p>\n — Talia Hibbert<\/a>. Work for It<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n (T)hat you are too much work for someone to bother with.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Cooper blurted. His heart was beating hard, but fuck it, what were they here for if not this?<\/p>\n Park looked at him. He had that same odd look on his face he\u2019d had when they first got to Jagger Valley that looked so much like nerves, but a little hopeful, too. \u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything. Well, for earlier, and for being, you know, me.\u201d Cooper laughed awkwardly.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the hell, Dayton,\u201d Park said, sounding angry. \u201cThat\u2019s a horrible thing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n — Charlie Adhara<\/a>, The Wolf at Bay<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That word opens a fissure inside Dev\u2019s chest. Burden<\/em>. The way he felt as a kid every time his mom got off work early to take him to therapy.<\/p>\n — Alison Cochrun<\/a>, The Charm Offensive<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And sometimes even those who love you don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel awful when I know you\u2019re having a hard time and I can\u2019t fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t fix it,\u201d Simon said flatly. \u201cIt<\/em> is me.\u201d<\/p>\n — Roan Parrish<\/a>. Better Than People<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Intellectually you know your friends love you regardless of how prickly and difficult you feel.<\/p>\n \u201cOliver. It\u2019s not your job to make being with you convenient for me. Just like it\u2019s not my job to make being with me convenient for you.<\/p>\n — Alexis Hall<\/a>, Husband Material<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n But it\u2019s still hard.<\/p>\n He looked at the situation and chose to acknowledge all the dimensions of it.<\/p>\n Dimensions (as he thought of them) weren\u2019t positive or negative. They were simply the truth of how he felt about things.<\/p>\n — Roan Parrish<\/a>, Best Laid Plans<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n You keep your expectations within reason.<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, Jude,\u201d Faron said as they got close.<\/p>\n \u201cMorning,\u201d I said. It never did to qualify things too early.<\/p>\n — Roan Parrish<\/a>. Invitation to the Blues<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n You try not to think of the only-ifs.<\/p>\n This part was always the hardest. The moment when he could see the person he would have been\u2014 the connections he would have made\u2014 if only he weren\u2019t like he goddamn was.<\/p>\n — Roan Parrish<\/a>. Better Than People<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cGod, is this going to take years?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take your whole life,\u201d Felicity says. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t have to be the defining element of it.\u201d<\/p>\n — Mackenzi Lee<\/a>, The Nobleman\u2019s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And if you\u2019re me, you try to keep your sense of humor about it all.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been through a lot today,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to diminish it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but if I don\u2019t diminish things I have to face them at their normal size, and that\u2019s horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n — Alexis Hall<\/a>. Boyfriend Material<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n But even with all that, it helps to know you aren\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery choice we make,\u201d James said, \u201cand every path we take are what leads us to the points we\u2019re at today. To the people we love and who love us. Sometimes those paths are horrific, but we wouldn\u2019t be the people we are if we hadn\u2019t traveled them.\u201d<\/p>\n — A.M. Arthur<\/a>. Getting It Right<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n Call or text 988<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Veterans Crisis Line<\/a> Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and press 1 or text to 838255<\/p>\n Mental Health Resources<\/a><\/p>\n MentalHealth.gov<\/a><\/p>\n 5 Action Steps for Helping Someone in Emotional Pain<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mental Health Representation in Books: Depression<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the things that has come recently is visibility in media\u2014being able to see one\u2019s ownself reflected in books and movies etc Some of people (especially those on the far right) seem to think this is ridiculous. Most of those people are normal white people (quite often male) whose life view is reflected in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,15,1097],"tags":[1095,1096],"class_list":["post-17144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-reading","category-depression","category-mental-health","tag-mental-health","tag-representation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pefxA-4sw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Better](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Better-Than-People.jpg?resize=199%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/the-wolf-at-bay.jpg?resize=190%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Because everything about you is a little bit off, a little bit skewed.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/The-Noblemans-Guide-to-Scandal-and-Shipwrecks.jpg?resize=198%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a>As you go along, you learn tricks and tools to help manage the things that make you different\u2014the things you struggle with.<\/p>\n![\"Boyfriend](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Boyfriend-Material.png?resize=200%2C300\")
<\/a>You try to remember that you are a work in progress.<\/p>\n
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Anxiety<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Grief<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: PTSD<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Addiction and Eating Disorders<\/a>
\nRepresentation in Books: Injury<\/a>
\nRepresentation in Books: Illness<\/a>
\nRepresentation in Books: Neurodiversity<\/a><\/p>\n