A new collection of books created to help young people manage their mental health and wellbeing is now available from North Yorkshire County Council’s libraries.
The books are part of the Reading Well on Prescription scheme and contain general information for young people about managing personal wellbeing and developing the ability to cope under pressures. There are also books covering specific topics or conditions, including anxiety, depression, bullying, autism, eating disorders and self-harm. The books are available in a range of formats, including graphic novels, and cater for different reading levels.
“This new collection of books has been developed in response to the growing need to provide young people with targeted self-help material,” said Cllr Janet Sanderson, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Children’s Services. “The pressures of modern living have led to a doubling over the last 30 years of 15-16-year-olds reporting that they frequently feel anxious or depressed.
“Ten per cent of children and young people now have a diagnosable mental health condition – which averages out at three children in every classroom. One in ten young people deliberately self-harm, with 15,000 of them hospitalised every year from their injuries.
“The new Reading Well range of books has been designed to help young people cope with the pressures of growing up and be more confident about dealing with difficult feelings and experiences. As well as providing valuable information, reading can also help young people explore personal situations through fiction and gives them the opportunity to take part in social reading through activities like reading groups.”
County Council Leader Cllr Carl Les said: “Poor mental health in young people can have serious implications for them in later life, affecting their wellbeing and the ability to work and earn as adults, so there is an enormous need for free, easily accessible mental health information and advice to be available for them. These new books are available for anyone to borrow free from North Yorkshire County Council’s libraries.”
The book list has a wide range of self-help and information titles, as well as memoir, graphic novels and fiction. This includes hugely influential novels The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and popular non-fiction such as Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson and Blame My Brain: The Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed by Nicola Morgan to the self-help guides Banish Your Body Image Thief and Breaking Free from OCD.
More information about services available from the libraries, including e-books and the lending catalogue, can be found at www.northyorks.gov.uk/libraries.