Staff Picks: Everything is Okay by Debbie Tung

Everything is OK by Debbie Tung

A young freelance artist navigates adulting while managing anxiety, negative thoughts, and depression. Everything is OK uses illustrations with minimal color to contrast negative and positive emotional stages. The book describes panic attacks, inner dialog, and how therapy can help people unravel chronic feelings of low self-worth. 

Debbie Tung is a British cartoonist and illustrator who draws about everyday life. She shares her mental health journey in Everything is OK to remind people dealing with tough times or anxious feelings to be kind to themselves. 

Alicia Cavitt

Information Specialist

Staff Picks: Art for Self Care by Jessica Swift - Adult Nonfiction

Art for Self-Care by Jessica Swift

You will be okay. 
This will not stop you. 
This will not break you. 
This will not end you.

When her husband passed away in 2018, Jessica Swift found comfort in listening to a voice that spoke from within. Widowed with two young children to care for, Swift soon discovered an unexpected inner strength. She began journaling and started scheduling time to listen to her inner voice after putting her babies to sleep each night.

In Art for Self-Care, Swift chronicles her healing journey as she simultaneously grieved her spouse while nurturing her children and working on what she calls 100 Messages to Myself. The book is both a memoir and guidebook for anyone who wants to grow more in touch with their own inner voice. It includes colorful illustrations and practical advice on the tools and techniques that anyone can use to create fun and meaningful art; whether they are a beginner or an experienced artist.  

Picture Books for Mental Health Awareness Week May 12 through May 16

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national observance focused on raising awareness about mental health and well-being. Mental Health Awareness Week is May 12-16 and serves as an opportunity to reduce stigma and promote resources for mental health support. The theme of Mental Health Awareness Month for 2025 is “Turn Awareness Into Action”.

These picture books from our collection address mental health struggles with easy to understand vocabulary and engaging illustrations.

I Think I Think A Lot by Jessica Whipple; Illustrated by Josee Bisaillon

Overthinkers young and old will enjoy this beautifully illustrated picture book that asks whether other people have extensive internal dialogs, question their choices, and worry if they've inadvertently caused offense or been misunderstood. 

Author Jessica Whipple says she wrote I Think I Think A Lot for people like herself who are managing obsessive-compulsive disorders and to share a bit of her own experience as a child who was obsessed with "being good."  

National Stress-Free Family Holidays Month

While the December holidays are typically viewed as a festive time, not everyone experiences the season in the same way. Gray skies, busy schedules, idealized expectations, and missing loved ones can increase stress, anxiety, and depression. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 40% of adults suffer from social anxiety around the holidays. Many people experience some form of holiday blues, including dissatisfaction and loneliness. Unhealthy eating or drinking can also exacerbate mental health struggles in the winter months.  

If you're feeling stressed, here are a few quick reads from our collection that may help you manage the challenges of the season.  

Be a Triangle: How I Went From Being Lost to Getting My Life Into Shape by Lilly Singh

Comedian, actress, and author of How to be a Bawse, Lilly Singh writes about her own quest for inner peace. In this insightful and charming book, Singh encourages readers to acknowledge their unique personal struggles and reject cookie-cutter expectations to create a solid foundation and "be a triangle".

Collection Highlight: Mental Health Awareness Month 2023

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Forsyth County Public Library offers patrons a wide array of current books about keeping the mind healthy, preventing and healing mental illness, and practicing self-care.

A few new titles are shared below. Visit our Community Resources Guide and Mental Health Helplist under eResources or ask a librarian for additional mental health resources for you or for a loved one. 

Change Your Brain Every Day: Simple Daily Practices to Strengthen Your Mind, Memory, Moods, Focus, Energy, Habits, and Relationships by Daniel G. Amen, MD. 2023

Psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Daniel Amen, MD, draws on over 40 years' clinical practice with tens of thousands of patients to give you the most effective daily habits he has seen that can help you improve your brain, master your mind, boost your memory, and make you feel happier, healthier, and more connected to those you love.

Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder by Gabor Maté, MD. 2023

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) as genetically based and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition.