Q: I’ve recently finished a course of counselling to help me deal with depression and anxiety. What books will help me keep feeling positive and exploring my issues, without being too “self-help-y”?
Anonymous, 39, Bristol

Matt Haig, author and mental health campaigner, writes:
Reading is a very subjective thing, and depression and anxiety equally so, and there is never one right answer to this question.

When I was recovering from panic disorder and depression, reading of all kinds helped me. Reading children’s books (everything from Winnie-the-Pooh to Bridge to Terabithia) gave me the comfort only stories can give. I think fiction of all kinds can be beneficial when you’re ill, because for a story to be a story something has to change and change is what you want when you are trapped inside an unending bad moment.

I know you said nothing too “self-help-y”, but Self-Help for Your Nerves by Dr Claire Weekes is great. It was first published in 1962 and reads like it, but the advice holds true and stems from the dual perspective of doctor and patient. Less practically, I also read All Creatures Great and Small, the classic of rural veterinarian life, and that was a superbly calming read.

The most comforting fiction that I ever read was Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Some may find its religious and spiritual themes alienating but this story – a letter from father to son – is full of stoic wisdom about accepting the pains of life. Also, Hyperbole and a Half by illustrator Allie Brosh is a great and funny comic book about the realities of depression.

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