Pat Peoples has just checked out of a psychiatric hospital and is obsessed with exercise. He doesn’t remember how or why he ended up in the hospital; all he recalls are flashes of the events leading up to his hospitalization. He wants to focus on his recovery to save his marriage.
Peoples is the protagonist of The Silver Linings Playbook, a touching and entertaining novel by Matthew Quick that captures the experience of someone living with a mental illness. The book deals with important themes like treatment, improvements and relapses, daily struggles and overcoming the past. The characters have goals, relationships and obstacles, just like everybody else.
Other fiction and nonfiction books — some of them true classics — can help fight prejudice against mental illnesses and disorders. They’re also informative, engaging and rewarding reads.
Here’s a list of our favorites:
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon