That’s one in eight. Consider the number of people who are affected by those 970 million people, whether they are friends, family members, or caregivers.

The harsh truth is that even though mental health isn’t transmitted like a virus, we are still susceptible to feeling its effects from someone else. The symptoms of mental illness can impact us negatively and put our own mental well-being at risk. In short, mental health decline is contagious.

Someone can have an anxiety disorder, for example, and it can create anxiety in others around them. That’s a mild example. The more serious the mental disorder, the more at risk those of us around that person will be.

The Mental Health Contagion: Navigating Yourself Through a Loved One’s Mental Well-Being Decline guides people in challenging relationships with someone suffering from a mental problem, disorder, or crisis. This book helps readers avoid the contagion through proper self-care. But the self-care in this book goes beyond just taking hot baths and getting massages: It provides an in-depth look at what we can do to prevent our own mental well-being decline while we care for our loved ones.