Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence 

By Alex Berenson
This book does an excellent job of examining the link between cannabis use, mental illness and violence. Many cannabis advocates claim that cannabis makes you chill, and for many users that is undoubtedly true. But for many other users, it causes paranoia and triggers underlying psychosis which can lead to all manner of bad outcomes including violence.

Read the corresponding article from the New Yorker " Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think?" Permitting pot is one thing; promoting its use is another.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/is-marijuana-as-safe-as-we-think

A Court of Refuge​: Stories From The Bench Of America's First Mental Health Court by Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren

The story of America’s first Mental Health Court as told by its presiding judge, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren – from its inception in 1997 to its implementation in over 400 courts across the nation.

Click here to learn more.

Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill by DJ Jaffe
​This well-researched and highly critical examination of the state of our mental health system by the industry's most relentless critic presents a new and controversial explanation as to why--in spite of spending $147 billion annually--140,000 seriously mentally ill are homeless, 390,000 are incarcerated, and even educated, tenacious, and caring people can't get treatment for their mentally ill loved ones. DJ Jaffe blames the mental health industry and the government for shunning the 10 million adults who are the most seriously mentally ill--mainly those who suffer from schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder--and, instead, working to improve "mental wellness" in 43 million others, many of whom are barely symptomatic. Using industry and government documents, scientific journals, and anecdotes from his thirty years of advocacy, Jaffe documents the insane consequences of these industry-driven policies: psychiatric hospitals for the seriously ill are still being closed; involuntary commitment criteria are being narrowed to the point where laws now require violence rather than prevent it; the public is endangered; and the mentally ill and their families are forced to suffer.

Great Summer Reads About Mental Illness and More – Well Worth Your Time by Pete Earley

• No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America by Ron Powers.
• STORIES FROM THE SHADOWS: Reflections of A Street Doctor by Dr. James J. O’Connell
• COMMITTED: The Battle Over Involuntary Psychiatric Care by Drs. Dinah Miller and Annette Hanson
• INSANE CONSEQUENCES: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill by D.J. Jaffe
• THE CENTER CANNOT HOLD: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn Saks
•  MORE THAN BIPOLAR: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope by Lizabeth D. Schuch.
• MY LOVELY WIFE IN THE PSYCH WARD. Mark Lukach’s new memoir

Click here to learn more.

BOOK LIST
ADHD
Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential - Peg Dawson and Richard Guare
Driven to Distraction (Revised): Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder -Edward M. Hallowell M.D. and John J. Ratey M.D.

Afterlife/Near Death Experience
Proof of Heaven- Eben Alexander, MD
90 Minutes in Heaven- Don Piper

Anorexia and Bulimia
Shattered Rose (Winsor Series) (Volume 1) - T L Gray
Wasted Updated Edition: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (P.S.) - Marya Hornbacher
Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia - Harriet Brown
Skinny: she was starving to fit in (False Reflections) (Volume 1) -  Laura L. Smith

Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Phobias

• Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety (Volume 1)-  Robert Duff Ph.D.
• First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety - by Sarah Wilson
• Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks - Barry McDonagh
• The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook  - Bourne PhD, Edmund J.

Bipolar Disorder

• An Unquiet Mind- Kay Redfield Jamison
• Bipolar 101- Ruth White and John Preston
• Bipolar Wellness - How to Recover from Bipolar Illness - Michael Rose, M.A.
• Beautifully Bipolar: An Inspiring Look Into Mental Illness  -  Callinan, Erin
• Nothing was the Same- Kay Redfield Jamison
• Perfect Chaos- Linea and Cinda Johnson
• Voices of Bipolar Disorder: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength (Voices Of series)  - Richard Day Gore
• Touched with Fire- Kay Redfield Jamison
• Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness: A Reader and Roadmap of Bipolar Worlds  -  Icarus Project
• Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner - Julie Fast
• Why Am I Still Depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorder  -  Phelps, Jim
• The Bipolar Teen: What You Can Do to Help Your Child and Your Family  - Miklowitz PhD, David J.
• Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bipolar but Were Too Freaked Out to Ask  -  Smith, Hilary
• The Bipolar Addict: Drinks, Drugs, and Delirium and Why Sober is the New Cool - Conor Bezane
• The Book of Whispers: : A Father and Son's Battle with Bipolar Disorder - by Mr. Mickey A. Driver
• Under My Helmet - Keith O'Neil
• Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness – Pete Earley
• ​The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America  -  Gartner, John D.
• The Hypomania Handbook: The Challenge of Elevated Mood -  Doran, Christopher M.

Borderline Personality disorder

• I Hate You--Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality - Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus
• Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder -  Paul Mason MS and Randi Kreger
• The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness - Matthew McKay and Jeffrey C. Wood

Brain healing
Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change  - Grand PhD, David

Depression

• Reasons to Stay Alive -  by Matt Haig
• Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy  - David D. Burns
• Lessons I Learned in the Dark-   Jennifer Rothschild
• The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression - Andrew Solomon
• The Shack - William Paul Young
• Dealing with Depression Naturally : Alternatives and Complementary Therapies for Restoring Emotional Health - Baumel, Syd
• The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs  - Stephen S. Ilard
• Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers   - Perlmutter, David
• Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life  -  Perlmutter, David
• Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It-  Kamal Ravikant
• Healing Depression & Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs: Inspiring Stories of Restoring Mental Health Through Natural Therapies  -  Guyol, Gracelyn
• What Made Maddie Run by Kate Fagan - Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide NEW
  The heartbreaking and vital story of college athlete Madison Holleran, whose death by suicide rocked the University of Pennsylvania campus and whose life reveals with haunting detail and uncommon understanding the struggle of young people suffering from mental illness today.

The Dissociative Identity Disorder Sourcebook (Sourcebooks) -  Deborah Haddock
Dissociative Disorder

Drug Addiction
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines – Nic Sheff
We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction –Nic Sheff
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction - David Sheff

Grieving and Loss
Good Grief-  Granger Westberg
Times of Tragedy, Moments of Grace- John Baggett

Life lessons
Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom

Mental Illness

• Your Life Matters - Jeff Alden (Youth Mental Health Motivational Speaker - http://www.jeffyalden.com/) NEW
• Improving Mental Health: Four Secrets Hiding in Plain Sight - Dr. Lloyd I. Sederer
• Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide to DSM 5 (R) by American Psychiatric Association.

Multiple including Schizophrenia
Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity  - Andrew Solomon

OCD
Brain Lock, Twentieth Anniversary Edition: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior - Jeffrey M. Schwartz
The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD: A Guide to Overcoming Obsessions and Compulsions Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral -  Jon Hershfield MFT

Panic Disorder
Emergence:  Labeled Autistic- Temple Grandin

Psychiatry
Man’s Search for Meaning- Viktor Frankl

PTSD

• Homefront (novel)- Kristen Hannah
• Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging -  Sebastian Junger
• The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole - Arielle Schwartz
• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma - Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

Schizophrenia

• Henry’s Demons- Patrick and Henry Cockburn
• Surviving Schizophrenia, 6th Edition: A Family Manual – E. Fuller Torre
• The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness – Elyn R. Saks
• Schizophrenia For Dummies   - Levine, Jerome
• Surviving Schizophrenia, 6th Edition: A Family Manual  -Torrey, E. Fuller
• Forgiving Troy:  A True Story of Murder, Mental Illness and Recovery by Thom Bierdz (NEW - Kenosha story)
• I’m Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help. How To Help Some One With Mental Illness Accept Treatment -  Xavier Amador

Terminal disease, mental health

• The Last Lecture- Randy Pausch
• ​What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from Stories of the Dying by Karen Wyatt, MD (NEW)​ It is a very good book that makes you think about the important things in life and how to let the rest of it go.  Ex: How to forgive people who have hurt you because the relationship matters more than being hurt. The gal who wrote the book is a hospice doctor and she is very articulate as she writes about these lessons.