The Mental Health Contagion: Navigating Yourself Through a Loved One's Mental Well-Being Decline

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 970 million people in the world are suffering from a mental disorder. 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(TM) 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.

Author: Yvette Murray
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 11/18/2025
Pages: 170
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9781493090945


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/01/2025 pg. 54

About the Author
Yvette Murray is a psychotherapist in Toronto, Canada and a facilitator of the Mental Health First Aid Certification, an evidence-based program available in more than thirty countries around the world. She is also a mental health advocate, influencer, and keynote speaker for non-profit organizations, corporations, government agencies, and institutions.

She is also a contributing author to the Mental Health Commission of Canada's Catalyst Magazine.

Certified in Workplace Mental Health Law from Osgoode York University, Yvette offers coaching and training support on this topic. She has taught students employed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Canadian Federal Government, Canadian National Defense, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Scotia Trust, MD Trust, Scotia Wealth Management, Ellis Don, Salvation Army, Shepherds of Good Hope, CFIA, UFCW, Loblaws, Starbucks, and various hospitals. These students have been from a variety of industries, including human resources, insurance, security, retail, law firms, banks, and many other trades.

In addition to her experience as a mental health educator, Yvette is a LivingWorks Instructor offering certified safeTALK Suicide Alert training, a Certified LivingWorks ASIST Suicide First Aider, certified in safeTALK, and is a Suicide Alert Helper. She is also a Body Language Institute (BLI) Certified Instructor. A graduate of the BLI "You Can't Lie to Me" Train the Trainer program, she was mentored by the internationally sought-after Body Language Expert Janine Driver--a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and the go-to expert in lie detecting and body language for the media, the FBI, CIA, ATF, and the International Chiefs of Police.

Yvette is a seasoned entrepreneur, producing several huge consumer trade shows that have hosted world-renowned speakers such as Dr. Mehmet Oz, Jenny McCarthy, Patch Adams, James Redfield, and more.