Writing for young people about mental health

AS Hussain's YA novel Desi Girl Speaking is published next month, and in this month's book blog, the author explains how she approached writing about mental illness in her new book, and how conscious authors must be in how they portray mental illness in their writing.

Find out more about Desi Girl Speaking, and read a chapter extract from the book.

"Teens are already acutely aware that living with mental health struggles will take a toll on them
but what they need is hope and belief that they can get better."

AS Hussain writes:  "I make sense of the world through stories. For me, it's not the stories that are out of this world that appeal to me but rather the ones that are so realistic it's as if it were happening to me right now. I write stories about young people and their experiences, attempting to capture the world through their eyes in a setting that is familiar and attainable.

It is undeniable that mental health concerns among young people are on the rise. An estimated one in five children and young people between the ages of eight and 25 suffers from a mental illness, according to the Mental Health of Children and Young People survey by NHS England in 2023 (Walt, 2024). With these figures, it is then crucial that young people not only receive the adequate care that they deserve from professionals, peers and their educators but also have the opportunity to see themselves and their lives reflected in the narratives they read.

That starts with us.

As authors we need to be conscious of how we portray mental illness in our writing. Diane Scrofano, the author of "Disability Narrative Theory and Young Adult Fiction of Mental Illness" (2019), examined mental health narratives from the 20th and 21st century and categorised them according to Arthur Frank's disability narrative theory. Scrofano describes three kinds of stories in this study: restitution (where disabled people try to regain their abilities before illness), chaos (which emphasizes the unpredictable nature of life with an illness), or quest (in the narrative, the character advocates for others in a similar situation with knowledge of their illness).

Many narratives currently fall into the category of the chaos narrative, which is problematic because it exposes children to stories that are not empowering but rather could be debilitating to someone dealing with mental health issues for the first time.

"Literature has the power to connect with readers in an impactful way, however, with stories
that are traumatic or generalised, they can do the complete opposite."

Beyond these categories, there are also stories of mental health which often include intense trauma and turmoil, which isn't often the case for many youths. These stories will often include life altering events, which then lead to the main characters hiding their true emotions and setting themselves up to fall into the restitution or chaos category. Sadly, these stories are unlikely to cause young people to seek out help since they are either not representative of the common experience or lack an understanding of teenagers and the causes and roots of their mental illnesses, which are often not the same. Literature has the power to connect with readers in an impactful way, however, with stories that are traumatic or generalised, they can do the complete opposite.

I realised that I had to take a few steps when writing Desi Girl Speaking to ensure that Tweety's story could be as authentic and relatable as possible while at the same time ensuring the young people reading the story wouldn't feel terrorised or scared by the journey they would encounter. A step towards this was Tweety's ability to experience happiness and joy even when she appeared to be depressed, deviating from the narrative of what a depressed character is typically like.  In addition, Tweety is not given the impression that she has been cured simply because she is diagnosed by the end of the novel. Instead, Tweety recognizes that this will be a battle and that she is recovering from her illness. As a third point, Tweety and Desi Girl's story does not end in a conventional sense, that is, with all loose ends tied up. Tweety and Desi Girl use their shared experiences to create a joint podcast aimed at South Asian teenagers with mental health problems in an effort to tackle the issue of how the South Asian community responds to depression.

"Today's teens are exhibiting more signs of mental health struggles for a variety of reasons,
and we can only start to understand those through in-depth research."

Additionally, writing about mental health meant educating myself beyond the textbooks. Why are today's teens struggling? Is it social? Is it economical? Today's teens are exhibiting more signs of mental health struggles for a variety of reasons, and we can only start to understand those through in-depth research, which includes journals and published articles as well as first-person accounts of the platforms that matter most to them, such as TikTok and Instagram. And finally, authors need to write responsibly. Whenever we write, we should do so with sensitivity and intent. Authors need to be careful not to romanticise mental illness or acts of self-harm in the name of being honest. The narrative needs to be safe and one such way is through content warnings and resources.

But most of all, authors need to remember this: your character is not their mental illness. Write them as a person first and then incorporate their mental illness. Who are they beyond their illness? Are they funny? Are they kind? Are they loving? A character should not be defined by their illness, but rather it is a part of them.

It's vulnerable putting yourself on the page as an author but, as a reader, to see your experience represented can be life changing. As adults, I believe we infantilise teenagers simply because they are younger but in many ways, I think this is doing them a disservice. Young people have a need for radical honesty and by shielding them from the stories they so desperately want to read, we are doing more harm than good.

"YA literature offers youths a safe space to explore emotions, which may feel unfamiliar or frightening to them,
while also helping them feel less alone."

Writing about mental health for teens means respecting your readers and their experience. It means acknowledging that not one journey fits all and that there will be ups and down as they navigate their mental health. It means talking to them as if they were right there and giving them the space to process their feelings.

YA literature offers youths a safe space to explore emotions, which may feel unfamiliar or frightening to them, while also helping them feel less alone. Teens are already acutely aware that living with mental health struggles will take a toll on them but what they need is hope and belief that they can get better. That the little voice in their head telling them it would all be okay if they just stopped trying can be quieted.

Desi Girl Speaking is a book about mental illness but that is not all it is. It is about family dynamics, what it means to be a friend, the expectations we have of ourselves and others, the beauty of dance and finding your voice. Desi Girl Speaking is about communities which can either help or hinder a person's journey all the while highlighting that people with mental illness can lead full and healthy lives.

Because they can.

Desi Girl Speaking by A.S.Hussain is out 9th May, published by Hot Key Books and available at all good bookshops.

References:
Scrofano, D. (2019) 'Disability Narrative Theory and Young Adult Fiction of Mental Illness', Journal of Research on Libraries & Young Adults, 10(1), pp. 1-33.
Treloar, W. (2024) Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023 - wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey, NHS choices. Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up (Accessed: 26 March 2024).