This year\'s theme emphasises the importance of looking after yourself, and those around you, no matter your background or beliefs.

World Mental Health Day aims to create awareness and honour those battling every single day, and the best way to tackle this issue is by allowing everyone to have a voice in this all-important conversation.

Unfortunately, the number of those seeking treatment has grown at alarming rates worldwide, which was only exacerbated by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In England, the BMA (British Medical Association) has revealed that rates of ‘probable mental disorder’ in young people aged 7-16 increased from 1 in 8 to more than 1 in 6 from 2017 to 2022. For those aged 17-19 years old, the rates increased from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4!

Looking After our Mental Health

The Mental Health Foundation are a charity with many useful resources online with further information - https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health

Here are some of their top tips:

• Connect with others - try not to isolate yourself, it is important to find the time to keep in touch with friends and family.  You can also make sure to check on your friends; a simple text message can make all the difference
• Be active - find an activity you enjoy, and try to do it every day! There are many online fitness apps and videos you could try, whether you like to exercise alone or with someone else they are easy to fit around your day.
• Spend more time doing what you enjoy - you could try a new hobby, or develop an existing one. It is important to do things you enjoy, whether that means getting creative and crafting or playing a new game. This is also a great way to connect with your loved ones away from screens.

Important Reads this Mental Health Day

Reading is the one of the best forms of self-care, and it allows you to slow down and ground yourself in the present. Reading allows you to connect with characters in exciting new worlds, and also with the author behind the title.

Here is a list of handpicked titles you must read this week, or month, to help celebrate World Mental Health Day.

Compos Mentis - Of Sound Mind

by Lorna Buechner

Have you ever suffered with your mental health? Did you notice that all the CBT and self-help books, work in the longer term and want you to change your thinking? And have you ever found that hard to do when you are feeling distressed in that moment?

Then this book is your answer!

Based on Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) which is a skills-based therapy designed to help you in that moment of distress. I have compiled a variety of skills based on this and on techniques I have learned over the years to help you the way they helped me.

Disability & Me

By Tyler Casey

“Never give up, raise your voice, so it’s heard and if you want something, go and get it. Define your own odds. And remember – “it’s not how long it takes you to get there – it’s about getting there in the end!”” Tyler’s Story is one of strength and resilience. Diagnosed at a young age with dyscalculia, dyslexia and hard of hearing, she faced bullies and unsupportive learning environments. When she started work, despite all her achievements, people continued to try and bring her down. However, Tyler has come through the other side stronger than ever. Whatever life throws at her, she prevails, and her story will make you think twice about putting her in a box

My Mind Made Me Me

By Jeanie Civil

My Mind Made Me Me is a powerful and thought-provoking guide to understanding and improving your mental well-being. Written by an expert in the field, the book takes a holistic approach, delving into the connection between your mind, memories, childhood experiences, and mental well-being. The author draws on the idea that true wealth is found in good mental health, regardless of one’s financial status. The book offers personal insight into the possible reasons for your attitudes, prejudices, motivation, values, and mental health. It explores how our thoughts affect our feelings, behaviour, and ultimately our mental well-being. With real-life examples and practical exercises, the book encourages readers to give themselves permission to be happy and mentally well. The author uses the example of Prince Harry, discussing how his attitude towards the media may be linked to his young childhood experiences and his exposure to his mother\'s dubious relationship with the press. The author encourages readers to take a deeper look at their own childhood experiences and how it may be affecting their current mental health and behaviour.

This book is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their mental health and gain a better understanding of themselves.

Repeat After Me, AUTISTIC

By Linda Emmanuel

A light-hearted view of how autism impacts on an average household. Where the autistic child is totally oblivious to how their behaviour and actions appear to the outside world, and where the Carer, initially struggling with the challenges, and at times fumbling their way through, eventually comes to the realisation that by allowing the child to be their authentic self, everything else falls into place.

Linda’s first exposure to autism came from working with a specialist charity. Up to then she had no appreciation of the many shapes of autism, and from the experiences of this unique working environment, was able to identify the traits in her own grandchildren. One of whom the book is based on.

There is no right or wrong way of dealing with an autistic child and this book in no way suggests best practices or solutions to autistic behaviour. It is more about how we change our perceptions, and accept the uniqueness of our child.

The Power of Being Known: A Heart-Centered Journey Connecting to Self, Earth, Lineage, and Love

By Dr. Sofia Costa

The heart’s technology is more advanced than a cell phone and is the first organ to be created while you’re in your mother’s womb - chosen to be first for a Divine reason. Connecting to the heart daily is the key to gaining access to the truth, wisdom, love, and healing you are worthy of receiving.

To know yourself begins by knowing that you are one cell, one of many, and together, co-create your heart and entire Being. Choosing to know yourself from deep within and allowing yourself to be known opens the heart to be seen, loved, heard, felt, and supported in the present moment– which means you get to experience the richness of life wholeheartedly.

This book shines a light on what’s been hidden underneath the surface and gently leads you on an inner exploration for you to feel safe and empowered to alchemize fears, integrate a new way of Being, embody the truth and power of who you are, and love your Self (your cells) from the inside-out. This book can be read over and over again to support you in every phase of your heart-centered journey.

So, let’s begin!

Be still, feel, ask, listen, breathe, receive,

and know.

– Dr. Sofia Costa

Keep Stepping - A Step-By-Step Journey to a Clearer View of Mental Well-Being

By Mike Owen

Mike Owen, born with two congenital heart defects, battled with cardiac issues until the age of seven, when he underwent open heart surgery that changed his life.

For the following 31 years, Mike was plagued with intense and disabling heart palpitations. In 2004, the cause of the palpitations was diagnosed and, after a short cardiac procedure, for the first time in 38 years his heart was stable.

Life became easier. His confidence grew. But so did his workload. After three years of work-related stress, his heart succumbed to a new type of palpitation which would blight his life for the next four years. After taking steps to reduce the frequency and intensity of his cardiac problems, Mike finally felt like he had turned a corner. However, in 2017, he was plunged back into despair following a series of dramatic events.

When his Occupational Health Doctor gave him an unexpected Mental Illness diagnosis, Mike embarked on a new path. He now had to deal with psychological issues, learn mindfulness techniques and work through the trauma of his childhood and the uncertainty of having spent so many years living with his heart problems.

With his faithful dog, Coco, always by his side, Mike confronted the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness, in his own way. He found physical, emotional, and mental stability thanks to his diagnosis, and this is his uplifting story.

Choosing Life

By Alec Hargreaves

Have you ever wondered how to escape from depression? Or indeed, how to help someone escape from such a prison? This book finally opens up the doors to a mysterious world that an outsider cannot normally experience. Up until now, there existed an almost unbridgeable gap between the ‘normal’ world and the ‘depressed person’s’ world. Using a personable and honest narrative, the text provides a unique window of experiential understanding, whereby the sufferer can feel truly helped, and no longer alone; by accompanying someone who has really been there too.

Using a unique approach, interweaving three different strategies comprising hard-won personal experience, a practical cognitive tool-kit that works and God’s living word full of wisdom and truth, the author sign-posts for the reader the pathway towards a real and lasting freedom; a freedom which sometimes challenges our worldly notions of life and success that tend to keep us imprisoned and enslaved.

The book is a powerful and inspiring portrayal of upheaval and renewal, demonstrating to the reader that a strong backbone for life can come from an often overlooked source.

So, however, you are hoping to celebrate World Mental Health Day, remember how important it is to look after yourself and those around you. Take the time to read about others’ experiences and struggles as they take you on their journey, and learn from those who have taken the time to share their story.

Connect with Austin Macauley Publishers for more such blogs, and submit your manuscript if you want to publish your work. You can also make a quick and easy submission through the online submission form. You can stay updated with our new releases and activities by joining our family of authors and readers on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.