Books like The Mindful Way Through Depression

01

The Noonday Demon

Andrew Solomon · Health

The Noonday Demon is Andrew Solomon's exhaustive, literary account of depression — his own experience of it, its science and treatment history, its cultural and political dimensions, and the lives of people living with it across the world.

Both dig into depression.

02

An Unquiet Mind

Kay Redfield Jamison · Psychology

Kay Redfield Jamison is a psychiatrist and professor who has manic-depressive illness.

A kindred health read.

03

The Upside of Stress

Kelly McGonigal · Health

The Upside of Stress is Kelly McGonigal's evidence-based argument that the harm of stress is mediated less by stress itself than by the belief that stress is harmful.

A kindred health read.

04

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Sam Harris · Religion & Spirituality

Waking Up is Sam Harris' argument that the insights of contemplative traditions — particularly Buddhism's claim that the sense of self is an illusion — can be separated from religious metaphysics and investigated directly through meditation and introspection.

A kindred health read.

05

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

Martin E. P. Seligman · Psychology

Martin Seligman's research career began with learned helplessness — the discovery that animals and humans who experience uncontrollable events generalize the uncontrollability to subsequent situations where control is actually possible, becoming passive even when action would help.

Shares depression and cognitive therapy with The Mindful Way Through Depression.

06

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Daniel J. Siegel · Psychology

Mindsight is Daniel Siegel's case that humans have a distinct capacity he calls "mindsight" — the ability to sense and shape one's own mental processes and to perceive the inner lives of others.

Shares mindfulness and emotional regulation with The Mindful Way Through Depression.

07

Reasons to Stay Alive

Matt Haig · Memoir

Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt Haig's account of the severe depression and anxiety disorder he experienced in his mid-twenties, and how he survived it, returned to functioning, and eventually to something he could call a good life.

Shares depression and recovery with The Mindful Way Through Depression.

08

Full Catastrophe Living

Jon Kabat-Zinn · Health

Full Catastrophe Living is Jon Kabat-Zinn's foundational text on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), the eight-week clinical program he developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979.

Both dig into mindfulness.

09

Lost Connections

Johann Hari · Health

Lost Connections is Johann Hari's argument that depression and anxiety are not primarily chemical imbalances in the brain but responses to social and environmental conditions — disconnection from meaningful work, close relationships, the natural world, a secure future, and status that feels deserved.

Both dig into depression.

10

Mindfulness for Beginners

Jon Kabat-Zinn · Health

Mindfulness for Beginners is Jon Kabat-Zinn's entry-level introduction to mindfulness meditation.

Both dig into mindfulness.

11

Scattered Minds

Gabor Maté · Health

Scattered Minds, originally published as Scattered, is Gabor Maté's account of ADHD seen through the lens of his own diagnosis and his decades of clinical practice.

Both dig into emotional regulation.

12

Sleep Smarter

Shawn Stevenson · Health

Sleep Smarter is Shawn Stevenson's practical guide to improving sleep quality.

Both dig into recovery.