Young Adult Mental Illness

Behind nearly every adult who is accused of a crime, becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, or who is severely mentally ill and acting out in public, there is usually at least one extremely stressed-out parent. This parent may initially react with the bad news of their adult child behaving badly with, "Oh no!" followed by, "How can I help to fix this?" A very common third reaction is the thought, "Where did I go wrong - was it something I said or did, or that I failed to do when my child was growing up that caused these issues? Is this really somehow all my fault?"

Since the 1950s, psychiatry has controlled both the definitions, theories, diagnoses, and suggested remedies for mental illness. Many intelligent, well-educated, and well-meaning people have blindly accepted the secular construct of mental illness without investigating the underlying theories or answering foundational questions necessary to form a construct of mental illness. Some have chosen to refrain from conversations out of ignorance or fear of hurting and distancing themselves from friends or family who are labeled as mentally ill. Still others have taken dogmatic positions often ...

Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life (well, almost): he drums in the All-Star Jazz Band, has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn’t know he’s alive), frequently finds himself sitting across from his school counselor (who bribes him with candy), and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey (who is cuter than cute). But when Jeffrey gets sick, Steven’s world is turned upside down as he is forced to deal with his brother’s illness, his parents’ attempts to keep the family in one piece, the band, overdue homework, girls, and of course, Dangerous Pie.

Until sophomore year of high school, 15-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home. But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality.

It's taking place in homes across America at an alarming rate, a growing epidemic prevalent among teenagers from "good" homes. Self-mutilation or commonly known as "cutting", the act of intentionally harming oneself in an effort to deal with intense emotional pain, is a misunderstood phenomenon. This is one girl's struggle to fight against the urge in a twenty-four hour period.

Seventeen-year-old Elena is vanishing. Every day means renewed determination, so every day means fewer calories. This is the story of a girl whose armor against anxiety becomes artillery against herself as she battles on both sides of a lose-lose war in a struggle with anorexia.

Following her father's death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor's doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone...and more tormented.

August is a misfit with a pyro streak, and Jack is a golden boy on the varsity rugby team - but their intense friendship goes way back. Jack begins to see increasingly vivid hallucinations that take the form of an elaborate fantasy kingdom creeping into the edges of the real world. With their parents' unreliable behavior, August decides to help Jack the way he always has - on his own. He accepts the visions as reality, even when Jack leads them on a quest to fulfill a dark prophecy.

"Listening to a rollicking adventure mystery narrated well is a delight, and that's the case with this newest installment in the Enola Holmes series. Payne brings the wry humor, boisterous personality, and incomparable wit of Enola to life so well that listeners will wish they could join her for...

Their lives are a lie. Their memories may not be real. A new young adult psychological thriller by #1 NYT bestselling author, Kelley Armstrong. Blythe and her friends — Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya — have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school...

The anniversary of Olivia’s daddy’s death happens to land on the same day the world remembers John Lennon. While TV stations replay Beatles songs, in 1984, Landon, Georgia, Olivia’s mama gets swept back into her own memories—and her behavior grows harder for Olivia to explain away. A chance comment on a talk show flips a switch in Olivia’s mind: Mama might not just be quirky—she might actually be sick. Suddenly, sixteen-year-old Olivia is thrown into an adult world, searching for answers and strength she didn’t know she had. With no family to lean on, she finds help in the ...

When Maisie gets into a terrible accident, her face is partially destroyed. She's lucky enough to get a face transplant - but how do you live your life when you can't even recognize yourself anymore? She was a runner, a girlfriend, a good student...a normal girl. Now all that has changed. As Maisie discovers how much her looks did - and didn't - shape her relationship to the world, she has to redefine her own identity and figure out what "lucky" really means.

Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life. The condition's name has always felt ironic to her, because she certainly does not "select" not to speak. In fact, she would give anything to be able to speak as easily and often as everyone around her can. She suffers from crippling anxiety, and uncontrollably, in most situations simply can't open her mouth to get out the words. Steffi's been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her.

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be - sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. For fans of Silver Linings Playbook and Liar, this thought-provoking debut tells the story of Alex, a high school senior - and the ultimate unreliable narrator - unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out what is real and what is not.

When Jarrett J. Krosoczka was in high school, he was part of a program that sent students to be counselors at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families. Going into, Jarrett was worried: Wouldn't it be depressing, to be around kids facing such a serious struggle? Wouldn't it be grim?

This memoir filled with “overwhelming emotions and power” (The Mary Sue) testifies to the disappointments and triumphs of a Black first-generation college student in this exploration of the first-year experience. There are many watchers and they are always white. That’s the first thing...

Amelia is a damaged girl from a broken family. It’s hard to be normal when your best friend is a ghost and you’re surrounded by living shadows. As she ages, the shadows only get stronger, threatening her very soul. One will do anything to pull her into his dark realm. To protect her family and loved ones, she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Can Amelia find salvation, or will she be lost within the shadows… …Forever? SOUL SISTER is a dark paranormal fantasy that takes place in our modern world. It is a novel of love and hate, life and death, angels and demons, hope and despair.

What if finding her means losing himself? Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he could travel through time. When he was 10, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at 15, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he's actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have "superpowers".

Teen Mental Health: Survive Your Mood, Survive Your Emotion, dives into the complex world of adolescence, offering a compassionate guide for navigating the wild rollercoaster of teenage emotions.

I'm just a girl that loves to write. I write when I'm happy and I write when I'm sad, and these are my thoughts in words as I seek peace. As you read, may these words lead you to peace. As others look for happiness, I'm in pursuit of peace.