Three Memoirs Worth a Read that Center on Mental Health

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Written by: Gina Rossetti, LCSW-C

Reading has so many therapeutic benefits! Memoirs specifically are a wonderful way to connect with experiences we might not otherwise encounter and to feel seen and connected to others. Other benefits include:

  • Expanding our understanding of human resilience

  • Normalizing emotional experiences often held in isolation

  • Providing language for complex feelings that can be hard to articulate

  • Encouraging empathy for ourselves and other

Here are three memoirs that I loved and which present a realistic representation of grief and trauma and their impact on mental health. 

  • I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This by Chelsea Devantez

  • What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

  • Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Each of these books offers a vivid, honest, and ultimately compassionate exploration of mental health needs. They attend to the messy, non-linear nature of emotional healing, and they model a kind of courage that feels especially relevant for anyone wrestling with their past challenges or loss.

1. I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This — Chelsea Devantez

Chelsea Devantez’s memoir blends humor with stark vulnerability, creating a narrative voice that feels like a deeply honest friend—one who doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff.

What makes this book valuable from a therapeutic perspective is its authenticity around the complexity of mental health and trauma experiences. Trauma is rarely simple; it doesn’t resolve in a straight line. The author reflects on her own experiences with self-destructive behavior, relationships that both harm and heal, and the paradox of wanting connection while fearing it.

Devantez reminds us that compassion for the self is foundational to healing. Her writing exemplifies how humor and pain can coexist, offering a bridge into exploring difficult emotions without being consumed by them.

2. What My Bones Know — Stephanie Foo

Stephanie Foo’s memoir offers one of the clearest, most articulate personal accounts of living with complex post-traumatic stress. She interweaves personal narrative with neuroscience and clinical research—making it an informative and moving read.

The book seeks to understand how trauma imprints itself on the body and mind. She explains how our nervous systems respond to threat, how memory works, and why healing is not about erasing trauma but about creating a sense of safety within the body.

This book is particularly helpful for readers who want to understand why trauma affects us the way it does. It validates the legitimacy of trauma responses and offers hope.

3. Crying in H Mart — Michelle Zauner

Michelle Zauner’s memoir is a beautifully written meditation on grief, culture, love, and identity. The story centers on her relationship with her mother and the profound loss she experiences after her mother’s death from cancer.

The author shows how loss reshapes identity and how love persists even when someone is gone. 

Crying in H Mart teaches us that grief isn’t something we “get over”—it’s something we integrate into our lives. Emotionally meaningful connections can live within us long after loss, and engaging with what we loved can be a form of healing.

A Gentle Reminder

These books are intense at times and cover topics that can be activating for many readers. Please take care when reading and consider processing them with the support of a therapist if you have experiences with trauma and/or grief.

Final Thoughts

Trauma and grief are universal, yet intensely personal. There is no single “right” way to heal, but memoirs like these open doors into understanding our own stories with more depth, courage, and compassion.

If you choose to read them, I hope they offer you insight—and perhaps a sense of companionship on your journey.