Books like This close to happy by Daphne Merkin

Name: This close to happy
Author: Daphne Merkin

Daphne Merkin offers an intimate, autobiographical account of her ongoing struggle with clinical depression. Drawing on essays she has published in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine, she traces the roots of her affliction back to a privileged yet loveless upbringing, early hospitalization, and a complex relationship with her mother. The memoir follows her journey through career development, marriage, motherhood, and a severe bout of postpartum depression that required further hospitalization. Along the way Merkin reflects on treatments, including therapy and medication, and concludes with her ongoing efforts to manage depression after her mother's death.

First publish date: 2017

Genre: Memoir/Personal Memoir

Authors: Daphne Merkin

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 0.0 (0 community ratings)

All books by Daphne Merkin

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for This close to happy by Daphne Merkin are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.

Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to This close to happy (14 similar books)

📘 The Midnight Library

by Matt Haig

In Matt Haig’s Midnight Library, Nora Seed explores an infinite library in which every book records a life she could have lived, challenging her to confront regret, choice, and the meaning of a fulfilled existence.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 (43 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Midnight Library

📘 The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar is the sole novel by Sylvia Plath, a psychologically intense and autobiographical look at a young woman’s decline into mental illness.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (42 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Bell Jar

📘 Brain on fire

by Susannah Cahalan

A compelling biography of Susannah Cahalan's battle with encephalitis and the challenges of diagnosis and recovery.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.6 (18 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Brain on fire

📘 Prozac nation

by Elizabeth Wurtzel

xxxv, 338 pages ; 21 cm

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.9 (10 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Prozac nation

📘 Nobody Nowhere

by Donna Williams

A brave, self-exploring memoir of an autistic woman's journey towards understanding and embracing her unique condition.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (6 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Nobody Nowhere

📘 More, now, again

by Elizabeth Wurtzel

An intimate autobiography of Elizabeth Wurtzel chronicling her descent into, struggle with, and eventual recovery from Ritalin addiction.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 (2 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like More, now, again

📘 Willow weep for me

by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.0 (2 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Willow weep for me

📘 Voluntary madness

by Norah Vincent

A compelling exploration of mental health, gender, and institutionalization, blending journalism and psychological insights with the author's harrowing personal story of living as a man.

★★★★★★★★★★ 2.0 (1 rating)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Voluntary madness

📘 Please Send Help

by Gaby Dunn

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 (1 rating)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Please Send Help

📘 Ask me about my uterus

by Abby Norman

Abby Norman’s memoir recounts her battle with endometriosis, from chronic pain and misdiagnosis to self‑education and activism, revealing the gender bias that often dismisses women’s medical complaints.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Ask me about my uterus

📘 International Library of Psychology

by Routledge

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like International Library of Psychology

📘 Women and psychiatric treatment

by Claire Henderson

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Women and psychiatric treatment

📘 The Postpartum Effect

by Arlene M., Ph.D. Huysman

A clinical psychologist explains the root causes, symptoms, and proven treatments of postpartum depression, offering a clear, practical guide for new parents, caregivers, and health professionals.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Postpartum Effect

📘 Shadows in the sun

by Gayathri Ramprasad

The author discusses the mental illness she suffered from a young age and the treatment she received only after she left India and became a mother for the first time in the United Stateas, describing her emotional recovery and spiritual awakening and her role as an advocate for the mentally ill.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Shadows in the sun

Some Other Similar Books

The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness by Kevin Young
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari
Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
Manic: A Memoir by Mott T. Messick

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!