Title: Reasons To Stay Alive
Author: Matt Haig
Published by: Canongate Books
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 4 hours
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)
Trigger Warnings: depression, anxiety, suicide, mental illness, panic attacks.
In the western world the suicide rate is highest amongst men under the age of 35. Matt Haig could have added to that statistic when, aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn’t, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression. It’s also an upbeat, joyous and very funny exploration of how to live better, love better, read better and feel more.
“You’re walking around with your head on fire and no one can see the flames.”
“Depression and panic only give you melodramatic thoughts to play with.”
“Once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through.”
“Sometimes on the rocky path to recovery, what feels like failure is a step forward.”
I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while as I’ve been following Matt Haig, the author, on Instagram and Twitter for a few years. I love everything he writes online and how much he advocates to end the stigma attached to mental health. So when I saw that his book was available on Storytel (the app I use to listen to audiobooks) I knew I had to listen to it and the fact that the audiobook is read by the author made it even more special.
This book gave me a lot of comfort. As someone who suffers with anxiety, even though I rationally know that I’m not the only one, hearing someone else talk about ways of thinking and symptoms, physical and not, that I have experienced many times made me feel less alone and understood.
I loved the writing style of this book and some of the different chapters he put in here and there, like the lists (I always appreciate a good list!). I loved how he explored both depression and anxiety, giving me a chance to know more about mental health and illnesses, even the ones I haven’t personally experienced.
Three things majorly stood out to me: hearing about the author’s relationship with his then girlfriend and now wife and how supportive she’s been through all of his hard times. It made me believe that there are people out there that can love you regardless of your struggles and understand you even if they don’t experience life the same way as you do.
Secondly the part where he says something along the lines of ‘had we been through some trauma we didn’t know about’, a trauma that we somehow forgot about and that could be the root cause of our anxiety. This part particularly resonated with me because I’ve too wondered where all of this came from, looking back at my life and finding no apparent reason for it has been hard at time.
Finally the section where he talks about books and the idea of finding peace from the chaos of my mind in a linear narrative, the one that lacks in my life, one that builds a world that is the only way to get out of my head. I’ve been a book lover my whole life and I’ve always found comfort in reading, beside the joy of losing myself in a story and getting to know amazing characters, Matt Haig’s interpretation on the role of books in our life when we suffer with anxiety definitely added something to my passion for books.
Have you read this book? If so what did you think? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?