Reading about characters with mental illness
If you have been following my blog for long, you probably know that I am an advocate for supporting those with mental health issues in all aspects of their lives. As far as we have come in our understanding of mental illness, it is still stigmatized and our loved ones with mental health issues are still marginalized. You don’t have to look far to find evidence of injustices being done to these important members of our community. Statistically, you are more likely to suffer a mental illness during your lifetime than to require corrective lenses.
If you take a look at my Reading Lists page, you’ll see that a lot of them relate to mental illness. Depression, schizophrenia, psychosis, and anxiety are all represented, as well as other disorders or neurological differences (neurodiversity). I write about characters with a wide range of differences and difficulties in these areas.
I guess I take it for granted that people understand mental illness better than they do, because I am often surprised when I see reader reviews that include comments like “I’m so tired of Erin’s whining. Why doesn’t she just get over it?” or “Other people have had tough childhoods, why doesn’t Zachary just grow up?”
I guess a lot of information comes to us filtered through the lens of a TV camera. TV characters sometimes suffer from depression, but they get over it after an episode or two of the TV show or by the end of the movie. Someone gives them a stern talking to that convinces them to cheer up, they get over the death of a child or partner, or they start taking an antidepressant and bounce back in a day or two.
But in real life, someone doesn’t get over major depression because you gave them good advice. Some people are unable to get past personal tragedies or trauma for decades or for the rest of their lives. Some people, even though they see a doctor or therapist regularly and are compliant with medications, never find that magic pill that will take away their depression, anxiety, or psychosis. Even those that seem like a miraculous cure can stop working suddenly and unpredictably. c-PTSD and personality disorders are notoriously difficult to overcome through any of the counseling or behavioural treatment options currently available. And there is no cure for autism, learning disabilities, or cognitive issues. In addition to that, many medications, chemicals, diets, and other things in our environment can cause damage to our brains and therefore our emotional state, social abilities, and sense of reality.
You can expect, then, that my characters will not be suddenly cured in the next book of the series. They may show improvement in some areas, and that improvement may be temporary or permanent. They may decline or experience a crisis in another area. Damage done in their childhoods will not suddenly cease to matter anymore, even though they do their best to put it behind them.
But they will also continue to find people who value them and support them and help them through crises. They will continue to move forward the best that they can despite setbacks. And I hope the true is the same for you and your loved ones, and that you can continue to find places of peace and happiness along the way.
Here are just a few of my characters who struggle with mental illness. If you haven’t met them yet, I hope you will soon! I have also included a variety of other authors’ books below.
Erin Price – Auntie Clem’s Bakery series
Erin Price is a baker, not a sleuth. Well, except for the fact that she keeps stumbling over dead bodies or other crimes in and around Bald Eagle Falls. Erin had a tough upbringing, which she doesn’t talk a lot about, and she mostly stays on an even keel. But you’ll notice that stumbling over those dead bodies does take its toll, and a few books in, she is having some difficulties in dealing with the sights she cannot unsee. Her partner also ends up dealing with a brain injury and PTSD later in the series.
Gluten-Free Murder
Erin Price moves to Bald Eagle Falls, a place where everyone knows everyone as well as everyone else’s business, taking over the store left to her by her aunt to start up a gluten-free bakery. The grand opening is marred by just one thing, the death of her business rival, Angela Plaint. It appears that Angela was poisoned by one of Erin’s cupcakes, making her a prime suspect.
Equipped with cupcakes, her desire for the truth, and new bakery assistant Vicky’s help, Erin goes head-to-head against Detective Terry Piper to solve the murder. Rumors of treasure hunting, drug dealing, and a missing boy swirl around Bald Eagle Falls as Erin tries to sort the clues from the red herrings and find the killer before the killer can take care of her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ P.D. Workman has done it again! This introduction to a new series involves a fresh start, sympathetic characters, and a murder. I spent the last ten minutes of the book standing up to read because I was off to do something but just couldn’t put it down until I got to the end. I haven’t been that invested in a book in a while.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Couldn’t put it down !! From a cute kitten to a police dog to a bakery for people with allergies ! Highly recommend!
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Zachary Goldman
Zachary suffers significantly more impairments than Erin. A private investigator by trade, he has managed to build his business and reputation in spite of his PTSD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, learning disabilities, and more. As I say in my description for this series: “Zachary Goldman, Private Investigator, is flawed with a capital F. Shattered by the tragedies of his own life, he will somehow still manage to pick himself up and dig just a little bit deeper than anyone else to find the vital clues.
Maybe being broken makes it easier for others who have faced tragedy to trust him. Walk with Zachary as he solves cases that will stretch his abilities to the limit.
Even with his own life in shambles, Zachary Goldman is still the one you want on the case.”
And I would like to take a minute to acknowledge the friends, family members, cops, and members of the community who support both Erin and Zachary. There is plenty of intolerance out there for those who struggle, but a few characters are shining examples of devoted friends.
She Wore Mourning
A dead child.
A mother deep in mourning.
Private Investigator Zachary Goldman’s life isn’t all roses, but he tries to put his own shattered life behind him to investigate the death of five-year-old Declan Bond.
Declan’s death has been ruled an accident, but his grandmother thinks there is more to it. She fears Declan’s mother will not be able to find peace until Zachary can give them an answer once and for all. But as Zachary digs into the circumstances surrounding Declan’s death, he finds that all is not as it seems, and somebody doesn’t want him to find the truth.
As Christmas Eve, the deadline for solving the case looms closer, both Isabella and Zachary fall deeper into the darkness. they’ll have to survive Christmas Eve to find it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Psychologically complex and gripping … Zachary must deal with his own psychological issues as well as those of the child’s parents along with attempts on his life. I’m binge reading this series.
Zachary Goldman, Private Investigator, is flawed with a capital F. Shattered by the tragedies of his own life, he will somehow still manage to pick himself up and dig just a little bit deeper than anyone else to find the vital clues.
Maybe being broken makes it easier for others who have faced tragedy to trust him. Walk with Zachary as he solves cases that will stretch his abilities to the limit.
Even with his own life in shambles, Zachary Goldman is still the one you want on the case.
Investigate this P.I. mystery now!
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A couple of others before I turn the page over to my fellow authors:
Renata Vega – Medical Kidnap Files
Renata struggled with major medical issues as well as paranoia and psychosis. She may only be a teenager, but she is brilliant, and her paranoia, while sometimes leading her down conspiracy theory rabbit trails, is one of the things that keeps her and Gabriel Tate alive and free.
Mito
Gabriel has dealt with mysterious medical issues his whole life. Just when he finally thought that they had all of the answers and he was on the road to good health, he is apprehended by DFS on the grounds of medical neglect.
At first, he thought that he would be back home in a few days, once the misunderstanding was cleared up. But when Renata tells Gabriel her crazy conspiracy theories, Gabriel feels the first pangs of doubt. Is there really a conspiracy?
Will he ever be able to get well and go back to his mother, or is he doomed to be another guinea pig for Doctor De Klerk?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The plot was FANTASTIC. I’ve read a lot of stories about foster children, but never anything quite like what happens in Mito. I never even realized that medical kidnap could very well be a thing happening “behind the scenes” in foster care, but after reading this book my mind is blown. I just. Wow. I don’t want to go into a whole lot of detail so I think I might stop this review here, but, gah. I can’t even form words I’m so freaking mind blown.
This book was amazing!!
—Britt, Goodreads reader
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Chloe Simpson – Between the Cracks
All of the children in the Simpson family suffer from the abuse they suffered, some with major mental illness or personality disorders. Chloe is my favourite of the siblings, and her journey out of darkness is one you will want to read.
Chloe
Chloe had always been the perfect daughter. Diligent, obedient, good at caring for the other children when Mom wasn’t home. She always worked hard and did everything she was asked.
But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse the abuse got.
Chloe had known for a long time that she was two people. The Chloe who watched and the Chloe who experienced. She had been watching for so long, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything anymore. But if she can’t overcome her past and start living in the real world, she knows she will lose herself forever.
Placed on the In the Margins Committee Recommended Reads, 2018 by Library Services for Youth in Custody.
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Abe Van Ram
Looking Over Your Shoulder was my first published book, so I hope you will excuse the fact that it is a little less polished than the ones I have published recently. Abe is one of the few characters I am aware of who is an example of a schizophrenic who is married with a family and who is usually able to manage day-to-day challenges and hold down a job. If you only watch/read popular media, you may be unaware that not all schizophrenics are institutionalized or homeless. That they are not, as a rule, dangerous to those around them.
Abe does suffer through a crisis in this story, which causes difficulty with both his job and his family, but he is not as paranoid as you think…
Looking Over Your Shoulder
Things were going well for Abe. Despite all of his past struggles with mental illness, he was happily married, had three wonderful children, a nice home, and a fantastic consulting business that satisfied his creativity and brought in a good income.
But you can never get too comfortable. When Abe becomes a prime suspect in a jewel heist – one of the largest successful jewel heists in history – his schizophrenia becomes unmanageable and everything begins to spiral out of control. Abe’s own investigation into the heist has the jewel thieves hot on his tail… but are they really, or is he just losing the battle against his inner demons?
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More books
You Only Live Once
From zero to hero…
James Flynn is an expert shot, a black belt in karate, fluent in four languages and irresistible to women. He’s also a heavily medicated patient in a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital. Flynn believes his locked ward is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Secret Service and that he is a secret agent with a license to kill.
When the hospital is acquired by a new HMO, Flynn is convinced that the Secret Service has been infiltrated by the enemy. He escapes to save the day, and in the process, Flynn kidnaps a young Hispanic orderly named Sancho.
This crazy day trip turns into a very real adventure when Flynn is mistaken for an actual secret agent. Paranoid delusions have suddenly become reality, and now it’s up to a mental patient and a terrified orderly to bring down an insecure, evil genius bent on world domination.
Shrouded Memory
What You Don’t Remember Can Hurt You
Rian Field has it all. A thriving career as a marine biologist, a loving husband, and a loyal circle of friends. But after surviving a shark attack, she becomes strangely haunted by disturbing memories where two masked men held her hostage in her own home.
Before long, nightmares begin to plague her, her friends start acting suspiciously, and she’s convinced that there are fragments from the past that she can’t remember, important clues that could save her life.
Then someone breaks into her home. Again. Convinced that the shark attack is somehow connected to the masked men, she experiences a renewed sense of terror as the culprits appear to be among those she trusts. Because they are watching her every move. They aren’t finished with the past. They know about her fear of sharks. And they will use that fear against her until she’s dead.
Rian must overcome her fear of sharks and uncover the truth before the past buries her once and for all.
A psychological thriller that deals with the realities of trauma and PTSD.
Comfort Zone
There’s a killer lurking in all of us. Sometimes you just don’t know it.
Take Phil Mercer, for example, what dark secret from his past changes a decent man, and respected professional into a man with murder on his mind?
Down to earth Northerner, Phil Mercer, begins to question why so-called university friends failed to help him establish a practice at London’s Criminal Bar.
Despite that and colleagues’ professional jealousy, he goes on to achieve success as a fearless defender of society’s less fortunate until his career is threatened by events triggered by something completely out of his control.
Figuring his life and career are about to change forever, Mercer strives to find a way to right wrongs by inventing a new parlour game called ‘Comfort Zone.’
At a dinner party surrounded by colleagues he insists they all play the game. He introduces it after dinner as a ‘storytelling game.’
He adds – “the easy choice is not an option at all. What terrifies you? What scares you shitless? Be brave. Be reckless. You are among friends. What can possibly go wrong? It’s just a parlour game, right?”
All for Mother
I don’t know what to say except I’m in crisis. I’m mad and I’m angry. I feel trapped. I wish I could erase the person that I am…
After the death of the family patriarch, Ash heads home to help take care of mother. Days and weeks pass; a temporary arrangement turns into an inescapable reality where Ash’s life shrivels to dust.
Nothing ever prepares you for the role reversal where the child becomes the parent.
Aging is the cruelest of jokes. Death comes for us all.
Emotional Geology
Rose Leonard is on the run from her life. Haunted by her turbulent past, she takes refuge in a remote Hebridean island community where she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea. Life and new love are offered by friends, her estranged daughter and most of all by Calum, a fragile younger man who has his own demons to exorcise.
But does Rose, with her tenuous hold on sanity, have the courage to say “Yes” to life and put her past behind her?…
Grayson’s Way
Love is patient. Love is kind.
But love is never perfect
Grayson and Angie’s marriage isn’t typical. Grayson suffers from schizophrenia, a mental disorder of delusion and fantasy. Their deep love, and an unyielding bond have allowed them to endure. This gorgeous, kind, sexy man has refused to be defined by his diagnosis.
When Grayson spirals into psychosis, Angie is powerless to stop it. He retreats into a world of delusions and paranoia, distrusting everyone around him. The danger he perceives appears to be an elaborate mental concoction, a reckoning of his tragic past and his crumbling present.
Are forces working against them? Are the OTHERS real or has Grayson finally succumbed to the demons in his head?
Laura’s Hidden Legacy
An abandoned mansion in Scotland; revelations about her stepfather’s past life; an enigmatic handsome neighbour. These are the essential ingredients of Laura’s Hidden Legacy – The Mansion. Laura Walter is a contented London art student living a privileged life and on the point of graduating university when tragedy strikes: her parents die in a car crash.
As part of her legacy, Laura discovers she has inherited an estate in Scotland in the middle of a forest; an estate about which she had no prior knowledge. Laura’s journey takes her to Scotland to see both the property and the village situated just a few miles away, as well as the man living down the road who had been keeping an eye on it for her stepfather.
While staying there, she comes across a number of art works that appear to have been painted by famous artists. In addition to the paintings, she finds a journal written by her stepfather dating back to 1940. At first, her life at the mansion and the life of her stepfather as expressed in his journal are wonderful. However, she soon discovers a number of disturbing truths about her stepfather and his abusive behaviour towards women.
In addition, she discovers his involvement with a Masonic Order and his role during World War Two, including what lay behind the paintings. The more she uncovers about the house and her stepfather’s past life, the greater the danger that surrounds her. As the story races towards its climax, Laura discovers the true, sinister history behind the mansion, as well as the family who inhabited it for generations, all of which could have altered the outcome of World War Two.
Nowhere Boulevard
Stephen Bell wants to be forgiven for reading his daughter’s diary. But he’s compelled to dredge every secret as her world changes.
This is the story of how Sarah’s perfect existence is shattered when everything trusted is stolen from her. Dad’s quit his job. Mum’s got pregnant and gone mental. But the boyfriend is a welcome distraction…until crazy is dialled to the max.
Sarah tries to be normal among her peers — but normal won’t let her be.
In a change from Black’s usual style, she breathes life into a family at breaking point. But readers will be left with no doubt that this is Katherine Black at her psychological best.
Beyond Dark
“I am surrounded by beautiful things… but I am not one of them.”
Agent Alyssa Rawkesby never thought she’d relate so strongly to a serial killer’s letter. But the moment she reads it, she knows there is no going back – she must find the notorious Belladonna Killer, even if it breaks the mental stability she spent seven years repairing. Women in Ottawa, Ontario are being poisoned to death and left posed with a bizarre signature. The grief and fear is filtering through the entertainment industry over a shadow slipping death into drinks.
As an expert in female serial killers, and a veteran criminal psychologist, Alyssa never before encountered a case like this. Is Belladonna a sadistic monster, or a victim of something sinister Alyssa is too familiar with? She fears looking Belladonna in the eye will be like looking at her own reflection – or that of someone she cut from her life a long time ago. But time is running out to save other women. She gets assigned a new, rookie partner, and she tries not to unravel as lines blur between what the killer truly is and the pieces of her own past.
“I know how it feels to live with crippling insecurity behind a mask of false ego and confidence. I only want to connect to a world I feel so detached from. To connect with something, anything to feel normal.” – Alyssa
Hard Trauma
Ty Stone never wanted to be anything but a soldier.
While in Afghanistan, an operation under his command goes horribly wrong, ending his military career. Ty is thrust back into civilian life, stuck working as a security guard at a truck stop. To make matters worse, he struggles every day with the demons that followed him home from the war.
His new job is routine, even boring, until a young girl is abducted while he’s on duty. Ty can’t let the case go, even when law enforcement insists he leave the investigation to the professionals.
Ty doesn’t listen.
He cannot listen.
His gut tells him that the investigators are going down the wrong road and with every minute they waste, the girl slips farther away. Unable to accept that outcome, Ty risks it all for this new mission. He knows that somehow their fates are inextricably bound. If he can save her, then somehow he might just be able to save himself.
