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Your Brain Needs A Hug: Life, Love, Mental Health, and Sandwiches by Rae Earl
Rae Earl isn’t a doctor, but she lived it all: anxiety, phobias, eating disorder, OCD, psychosis, self-harm, time in a mental ward, and more! And what she didn’t have, like clinical depression, her mom did.
So Rae writes from a life-long experience of suffering, dealing, and finally thriving with mental illness. My focus on this series for teens is on mental fitness, not disorders, but I wanted to include the book Your Brain Needs A Hug because Rae, well, Rae is hilarious. She’s seen it, experienced it, and has a self-deprecating sense of humor that anyone, teens and adults, can learn from and admire. She also has great advice on keeping your brain in tip-top shape.
“Looking after your head is not a selfish act. It’s an act of someone who wants to survive and contribute to the world they live in.”
Although Your Brain Needs A Hug certainly highlights mental problems that can face teens, that’s only half the book. The other half is a friendly understanding of how the brain works, funny stories, and advice on dealing with your own brain and the brains of your friends and family in a healthy, happy way. Plus, there are amusing and compassionate illustrations by Jo…
