Overwhelmed, exhausted, yet unable to relax when you have the chance? You are not alone. Josh Cohen, psychoanalyst and author of Not Working: Why We Have to Stop, discusses the symptoms and causes of burnout—and why relentless activity is at the source.

States of ecstasy (from the ancient Greek ekstasis, meaning ‘standing outside’) are moments when you lose your ordinary sense of self and feel connected to something greater than you. It can be euphoric, but it can also be terrifying, says the philosopher Jules Evans. Here he selects five books that explore the significance and power of these surprisingly common experiences.

Every generation has its own minefield to negotiate in order to reach adulthood. Rae Earl discusses five books that explore a range of mental health issues that some teenagers may face, and many adults have faced, while on this difficult journey.

Writing about her life in memoirs and a newspaper column allowed the author Bryony Gordon to “join the dots” to see the true face of her own mental illness. Here, she chooses five books to help with depression, books in which she has found solace and a sense of community among those who suffer from depression.

The way we deal with psychological trauma is outdated and overly focused on the individual. Matthew Green, author of Aftershock, picks books that could help us, as a society, heal soldiers and others who have been through more than they can cope with.

Most self-help books promise to take you from 0 to 100, but many people reading them are starting at minus 100. The author of What’s Stopping You? picks books that helped him come to grips with his own insecurities.

The author tells us about books that have anxiety at their heart, ranging from obsessional love and chronic neurosis to conspiracy theory paranoia and existential angst

The Slovenian philosophy professor decries the tyranny of choice and says we now expect long life, a beautiful body, sexual and job satisfaction. But the idea that we can perfect ourselves dooms us to failure and misery

The historian prescribes reading on medical practices of the past, from treatments of madness and non-existent disease, to drug use and the origins of hypochondria.

Clinical psychologist, author and broadcaster discusses the stigmas attached to mental health problems, and asks whether, as a society, we are really doing what’s best for our children

The psychologist and trustee of Alzheimer’s charity SPECAL says British and American women today are 5 times more likely to suffer a mental illness than in the 1950s

Author and social psychologist discusses the nature of drug addiction and the problems associated with it. Discusses books by Coelho, Welsh and Kerouac

The acting director of the Writing Program at Boston University argues that cowardice can still be part of our ethical vocabulary, but that we must learn from history’s mistaken identification of the traumatised as cowards.

The contemporary historian and educationalist Antony Seldon discusses his selection of books on how to be happy.

The author discusses books on mental illness, explaining the conditions that keep us sane and the effects of removing them. Recommendations include Sartre, Coetzee, and John Bayley on Iris Murdoch

As a young Dutch Jewish girl, Johanna Reiss survived World War II hidden in the attic of a farmer called Johan Oosterveld. Her memoir of that time, The Upstairs Room, is still read in schools today. But while she was researching that book in 1969, her American husband, Jim, killed himself. In this interview, she recommends books on the painful subject of suicide, as well as the music that helped heal the pain.