Penguin is publishing an inspiring mental health anthology – and these celebs are contributing

Miriam Habtesellasie

From Matt Haig’s Reasons to Live to Ruby Wax’s A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, tomes centring on mental health are increasingly dominating the bestseller book charts.

Now leading publisher Penguin has announced a forthcoming mental health anthology, curated by Scarlett Curtis – the writer and activist behind bestselling anthology Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies).

It’s Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies), will be published by Penguin Hardback on 3rd October, and includes contributions from 60 inspirational people about what mental health means to them.

A number of celeb voices will feature in the anthology including clinical psychologist Tanya Byron, actress Emilia Clarke, author Poorna Bell and singer and songwriter Sam Smith.

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OK. Here goes. IT’S NOT OK TO FEEL BLUE & other lies. A collection of essays by 75 people on what ON EARTH “mental health” means to them. All the royalties are going to the INCREDIBLE @giveusashoutinsta – the UK’s first 24/7 crisis text line in partnership with @sussexroyal – out on OCTOBER 3rd, the link to pre-order is in my bio #OKtofeelblue 💙 OK BREATHE. I think more than anything I made this book for myself. Not for me now but for 19 year old me. The me that decided that she didn’t want to be alive anymore. The me that felt so alone. The me that felt so ashamed. 💙 When we were touring with Feminists Don’t Wear Pink, the thing that came up again and again was women struggling to manage their mental health under the patriarchy. Mental Health is not a ‘one size fits all’, it’s an intersectional issue that morphs itself depending on race, gender, sexuality, disability, class, age. 💙 We all have a mental health. I don’t think I quite realised the extent to which that statement is true until I read the essays in this book. This book is many things but more than anything it’s a love letter to humanity, it is a SHOUT, a scream into the noise that let’s everyone know they are not alone, it is a safety net, showing young people that what they’re going through isn’t something to be afraid of. My hope is that it will speak to those who’ve been suffering for years and those who just don’t quite feel right. It’s a guide to the friends and family of someone who is going through a tough time and a piece of cold hard evidence to show that having a mental health problem doesn’t have to define your life. More than anything, this book is a puzzle piece of the global movement that is working to dismantle the shame around mental illness and tell everyone ‘going through something’ that they are not alone. I really, really hope you like it.

A post shared by Scarlett Curtis 🧙‍♀️ (@scarcurtis) on

Describing the book on it’s website, Penguin writes, ‘It’s Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies) is a collection of stories and essays from those who have suffered through the worst, and know what it’s like to fight to feel better.’

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Ten per cent of the RRP (£12.99) of each copy sold will go to the mental health charity SHOUT – described as the ‘UK’s first free 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere’.

On the anthology’s forthcoming debut, Curtis said, “We all have a mental health. I don’t think I quite realised the extent to which that statement is true until I read the incredible essays in this book. My hope is that it will speak to those who’ve been suffering for years and those who just don’t quite feel right. It’s a guide to the friends and family of someone who is going through a tough time and a piece of cold hard evidence to show that having a mental health problem doesn’t have to define your life.”

Before adding, “More than anything, this book is a puzzle piece of the global movement that is working to dismantle the shame around mental illness and tell everyone ‘going through something’ that they are not alone. This book is everything I needed as a suicidal 17 year old and even if one person buys it and feels a little less ashamed of their own mental health I will have done my job.”

Published in October 2018 Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies) – where Scarlett Curtis and 52 inspirational women wrote on what feminism means to them – was a Sunday Times Bestseller and winner of the National Book Awards Winner 2018!

It has sold 55,000 copies and garnered a huge celeb following, with Hollywood starlet Reese Witherspoon calling it, “Brilliant, hysterical, truthful and real”.

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