Mental Health Books For Men Who Feel Too Much, Say Too Little
Don't suck your emotions up or pour a bottle of whiskey over the top.
There's a point in time when our usual fixes stop working. Hitting the gym doesn't necessarily clear our heads, drinking feels unnecessary, and the shallowness of the internet becomes irksome. What to do quiet our incessant thoughts ? The inherited blueprints of stoicism "Be the rock", " Men don't cry", "Follow the virtue of self-control" is damning. It is exhausting to be fine.
Perhaps, going to therapy (we recommend it) feels overwhelming right now, books on mental health could be like quiet therapy sessions at your own pace- your own way of finding answers. And let's not beat around the bush, let's call spade a spade. Addressing your problems doesn't make you sound needy. While the list of books we are recommending don't promise peace in 30 days, they for sure offer honest words from people who've been where you are or are experts voicing their advice.
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Mental Health Books For Men
The list isn't your generic "fix yourself" manual either. Instead of making you go through pages and pages of overwhelming information on what the problem is and where its is rooted from, our mental health book recommendations address modern man's struggles with contemporary pressures, self development, the weight of emotions, and highlight the quest for identity and purpose.
Men's Work by Connor Beaton
₹2021 (Hardcover)
Available Amazon India
Men have traded in their internal leadership, sovereignty, and even masculinity for comfort, validation, and an escape from the mundane boardroom of their existence. Where is the modern-day strength training for the hearts and minds of men?
Written by ManTalks founder Connor Beaton, Men's Work is a self-help guide that focuses on destigmatising inner work that is hidden away or rejected to fit the expectations of the society. The book contains real stories from men who he has worked with and guided them to free themselves from patterns, thoughts, and emotions that restricted them. It is a 'Practical Guide to Face Your Darkness, End Self-Sabotage, and Find Freedom'.
Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton
₹5,416 .20
Available on Amazon India
We all long to succeed and fear failure. We all suffer - to a greater or lesser degree, usually privately and with embarrassment - from status anxiety. Alain de Botton- the modern philosopher, writer, and producer of School Of Life- gives a name to this universal condition and sets out to investigate both its origins and possible solutions.
He looks at history, philosophy, economics, art and politics - and reveals the many ingenious ways that great minds have overcome their worries. The result is a book that is not only entertaining and thought-provoking - but genuinely wise and helpful as well.
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The Will To Change by Bell Hooks
₹1521 (Paperback)
Available on Flipkart and Amazon India
Everyone needs to love and be loved-including men. But to know love, men must be able to look at the ways in which patriarchal culture keeps them from understanding themselves. In The Will to Change, bell hooks provides a compassionate guide for men of all ages and identities to understand how to be in touch with their feelings, and how to express versus repress the emotions that are a fundamental part of who we are.
If you think this one is going to scold you, it isn't. Be a session on patriarchy? Nope. In fact, its compassionate and gently but truthfully holds up a mirror —a vision of masculinity that is rooted in empathy and emotional freedom.
12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson
₹780( Hardcover)
Available on Amazon India, Flipkart
From the Canadian clinical psychologist, Jordan Peterson, the book is part philosophy, part psychology, and part tough love. It lays out 12 practical principles for living with responsibility, and purpose. The 12 rules are not just advices but confront life's messiness head on by tackling issues like chaos, discipline, and personal anecdotes.
Don't Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen
₹263 (Hardcover)
Available on Amazon India and Flipkart
Written in a calm , meditative tone, Nguyen explains the connection between anxiety, overthinking and emotional suffering with thoughts and not reality. It uncovers the core of psychological suffering ad offers insights to effortlessly shape the life one craves for.
Fire in the Belly: On Being Man by Sam Keen
₹5798 (Hardcover)
Available on Amazon India and Flipkart
A classic that dismantles the myths of macho masculinity by digging deep into what real strength, love, purpose , and freedom look like. The advice is not be soft but to question fatherhood, ambition, rage, and healing in a way that speaks to the soul.
The book first published in 1997 asks the question that is still relevant for the contemporary times: What if you chose your own idea of a man. What does it really mean to be a man? Fire in the Belly answers that question by daringly confronting outdated models that impoverish, injure, and alienate men.
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Let Me Hijack Your Mind by Alyque Padamsee
₹326 (Hardcover)
Available on Amazon India and Flipkart
Let Me Hijack Your Mind is Alyque’s parting gift to Indians, exhorting them to throw out the old and embrace new ways of approaching everything, which will lead them towards a more exciting and contented life-and a better society and country. It is a way to open windows in their mind to think about life aside from greed, power and money.
This is a book designed to throw everyone off-balance in a good way, because it is crammed with fresh ideas on how to live, how to dream and how to completely reset our mindset and attitudes.