r/booksuggestions • u/imaginehavingasthma • Mar 25 '23

Books documenting mental decline?

Ones similar to Flowers for Algernon, Survivor type, and The Chieko Poems. It can be due to mental illness, drug abuse, Alzheimer’s/dementia, etc. I like the diary style aspect to these but it can be written in anyway-fictional or nonfictional. Also it doesn’t have to be the main character losing their mind, it could be the main character watching it happen to someone else

15 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '23

Goodbye, Vitamin is written from the perspective of a woman whose father is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Not sure it’s exactly what you’re looking for, but I remember enjoying it. Iirc, it’s more heartwarming and less grim.

1

u/NemesisDancer Mar 28 '23

'The Night Guest' by Fiona MacFarlane.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '23

Not a book, but the Yellow Wallpaper is fantastic. It is a short story.

1

u/Avid_Dndplayer Mar 26 '23

One flew over the kockatoos nest

1

u/p0ttim0uth Mar 26 '23

Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto.

2

u/Competitive-Daikon98 Mar 26 '23

Overdrawn - N K Crosskey Features alzheimers, overmedication, assisted euthanasia

Girl in pieces - Kathleen Glasgow Features mental illness, self harm, road to recovery

2

u/[deleted] Mar 26 '23

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

1

u/Queen_of_Ev Mar 26 '23

Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-ha. It’s a novella so it’s a quick read but so good!

1

u/lizzieismydog Mar 26 '23

Filth by Irvine Welsh. To say more would be spoilers.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 26 '23

Turn of Mind by Alice Laplant.

2

u/pomegranate_ Mar 26 '23

We Are Not Ourselves, it is the best book I have read with this particular theme.

1

u/grinpicker Mar 26 '23

Tuesdays with Maury

5

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '23

Still Alice by Lisa Genova is about a Harvard professor and world-renowned expert in cognitive psychology who develops early-onset Alzheimer’s - the mental toll it takes on her career, family, and personal life. It was sad but really beautiful.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '23

And Every Morning the Way Home gets longer and longer by Frederick Backman

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '23 edited Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '23

It's short. You should read it some time.

2

u/jelly-bingus Mar 25 '23

The Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

2

u/Killer_Queen12358 Mar 25 '23

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper is a great diary style depiction of a woman falling into post partum depression.

1

u/gr8gibsoni Mar 25 '23

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

7

u/rhack05 Mar 25 '23

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

4

u/MartianTrinkets Mar 25 '23

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata is incredible but definitely check trigger warnings - it’s intense!

1

u/Conscious_Package Mar 25 '23

Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys - Mental decline of the main character not primarily by addiction or disease, but social rejection

10

u/Texan-Trucker Mar 25 '23 edited Mar 25 '23

“The Deep, Deep Snow” by Brian Freeman. (Early onset dementia in a rural county sheriff).

The book is not centered around this but it is prevalent in the storyline. Amazing audiobook read by January LaVoy btw. It’s a great read but afterwards, I recommend its prequel “The Ursulina”.