The most recommended books about self-harm

The Call of Cassandra Rose is also about childhood trauma and healing from it. I could not read this book fast enough. I was desperate to know what happened. Sophia Spiers is such a brilliant writer. This book is harrowing in places and the character can be unlikeable, just like mine. But really, they are just being human. Human beings are messy and complicated and nothing is harder than family. 

This book had me enraged at how unfair Annabelle is treated and I really rooted for her. Just as I hope people root for Natalie, even though she can be erratic and stubborn as hell. Annabelle is struggling with motherhood and is in a terrible marriage. She hopes her hypnotist can fix her, but can she? Is life really that simple?

Willow is such an important novel for any teen who has gone through a traumatic event.

Willow, a 17-year-old girl is dealing with grief over the death of her parents and the fact that she was driving the car that killed them. She’s had to leave behind her old home, friends, and school. But Willow has found a way to survive, to numb the new reality of her life, she is secretly cutting herself.

For every teen that has either cut themselves, drank to numb the pain, starved themselves, or done any sort of self-harm in order to protect themselves from their inward pain, this book is for you. Not only is this story about grief and guilt, but it is also about love and never giving up.

This is not your average haunted house story––not by a long shot.

This abandoned house is alive and salivates, built with wood, bricks, hatred, and soaked in murder throughout the ages. Three women went in, but only two returned, both remembering a completely different set of details of victimization by the other. Three years later, the house calls them back to finish what it started.

Rumfitt’s writing style at times reads like a fever dream, she even describes one event simultaneously from two different perceptions. Its subject matter is not for everyone; it highlights the darkest parts of fascist-born damage, PTSD, self-harm, and internalized shame. It’s dirty, it’s gory, and it’s fantastic. 

It is rare to find the view of a birth father in a story or online, so I was keen to read this to help widen my perspectives. This insightful, reflective autobiography helped me to imagine how my son’s birth father may be affected by the adoption. Andrew shares how the loss of his son to adoption has affected so many of his choices throughout the rest of his life. I read this around the time that I was due to write a contact letter to my son’s birth parents, and I feel that it helped me to write something that I hope his birth parents will find supportive and reassuring, rather than a superficial update to “tick the box.”

I am a huge fan of Yoru Sumino’s books, and her sweet MG/YA novel showcases what a brilliant writer she is.

The story follows Nanoka, a grade-schooler faced with a tough question for her school assignment—what does ‘happiness’ mean to her? Throughout the story she makes friends with a troubled girl who engages in self-harm, a woman ostracized by society, and an old woman looking to live out her years in peace.

The story handles tough subjects with a beautiful gentleness and has an almost Studio Ghibli peacefulness to it. It’s a wonderful story of family, life, and what happiness really means.

Sadly, when asked about the artist, most people describe Vincent as the man who chopped off his own ear. I hate that they do.

This book though is neither gratuitous nor indulgent. Instead, it offers a detailed, well-researched, and intelligent response to the question - Why did Van Gogh cut off his ear? There has been much speculation about the events that led to Vincent delivering his ear to a maid at a brothel in Arles.

This book is essential reading for any who wishes to open conversations about Vincent’s motivations and the happenings that led to that gruesome act on a specific day in December.

The memoir of world-renowned psychologist Marsha Linehan, who happens to be someone I greatly admire for creating the treatment that I use: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).  This book relays Linehan’s struggles as a teen and adult with her own mental health condition, including self-harming behaviors and thoughts of suicide, and how her experience contributed to her creation of a therapy that has likely saved millions of lives.

I bought this book several years ago, but it was 700 pages long, so it stayed on my shelf until I got tickets for the play in London and decided to read the book first. I was spellbound. The book is disturbing (child abuse, self-harm, suicide attempts) but superbly written.

The author's style reminds me of Donna Tartt. Four young American men of different ethnicities, backgrounds, and sexual orientations meet at high school. The novel starts as a coming-of-age story but follows the characters into middle age and beyond. The author brings New York vibrantly to life. Readers get insights into their friendship and how unintended cruelty almost breaks their bond. All four men struggle with burdens from childhood, but the central character, Jude, who was abandoned as a baby and brought up by monks, has suffered unspeakable horrors.

The darkness is only hinted at in the opening chapters, giving… show more.

(If it wasn't obvious by the cover, this book has adult content in it - so it's not for young readers!)

I relate so heavily to this book! Since it’s an autobiography, it’s such a raw and honest look at what it can be like to explore your sexuality as an adult, all while struggling with mental health and self-image.

I feel that the author’s tone of voice and inner monologue throughout the story is so relatable and humorous. Just like Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, I would recommend this book for the art alone! It has an incredibly charming and simplistic art style that suits it so well.

This gripping and heartbreaking YA novel about Lily and her older, bipolar sister, Alice, has stayed with me. I found the plot and characters so realistic and absorbing that I forgot I was reading fiction. 

This book is an intense read, but set in a world I became thoroughly immersed in. I connected with Lily’s compulsion to be the perfect daughter and straight-A student. I cried for her having to swallow her emotions and words, while internally struggling with her own demons.

It’s a must-read for anyone who has survived their teenage years. It’s considered, wholehearted, and delivers a convincing portrayal of sisterly bonds, mental health issues, and the people who are courageous enough to confront them. I’m teary now just thinking about it.