Review of Matt Haig's 'Reasons to Stay Alive'

Whilst on holiday last week I read Matt Haig’s, Reasons to Stay Alive.

I had seen the front cover of this part memoir/part book floating around the internet over the past year and had seen various people praising its contents and how perfectly Matt grasped the concept of mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression. In this part book/part memoir, Matt details his lifelong battle with both.

From someone who openly suffers from depression and an anxiety disorder, Reasons to Stay Alive really hit me in certain places of the book. I could really relate to most parts of Matt’s experiences and found a lot of his journey hitting very close to home for me. If I’m honest, it was actually a slight relief for me to read that problems like this were also happening in 1999 and not just 2018.

I say this because when you suffer from a mental illness it is incredibly easy to think that you are the only one who is experiencing it or who has EVER experienced it. When you’re suffering you can feel completely alone and alienated from the world. You feel that nobody has ever felt as bad as you do at that moment. Truth is, someone more than likely has.

Throughout the book, Matt talks about how and when his black dog appeared, that he was on the edge of suicide (quite literally), and how over time he found things that helped him control the dog from rearing its head. Matt also speaks in-depth about his anxiety disorder and that he felt it had always been there since childhood, he just hadn’t realised it until many years later.

One part of Matt’s masterpiece that really hit home for me was this. The chapter begins with, “Things that have happened to me that have generated more sympathy than depression,” and he goes on to list things such as tinnitus, breaking a toe, etc.

I could not agree with any other statement in his book more than this. Imagine if we treated physical illness the way we treat mental illness?

“My head is killing me. I think I’m getting a migraine.”

“Please don’t moan. You’ll spoil everyone’s mood.”

“I found out I have cancer.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Some people have it worse than you do.”

“I’ve broken my leg.”

“It’s like you’re not even trying to get up and move.”

“This cold is going to be the death of me.”

“Wow, you take medication for that?”

The part memoir/part book is laid out in short and to the point chapters, which as a 20-something myself, I found really informative to read. Matt also has sections of lists in the book such as, “Things that sometimes make me feel better.” Social media these days is a whirlwind of a place which causes incredible highs and also disastrous lows. This section of the book with the list is perfect in my opinion for the younger and social media generation as it is encouraging them to write down self-help techniques and surround themselves with things they know will cause them pleasure and happiness.

Depression and anxiety are not nice things to experience and I would not wish them upon my worst enemy. Someone recently once told me that if one of these illnesses enters your life—don’t be afraid. Think of them as a small and confused child. They’re telling you that something is not quite right with you or there is an imbalance in your life. They are trying to help you. You wouldn’t push a small child to the side, would you?

I find that concept interesting to think about, yet hard to also get my head around. But there’s an interesting topic for a discussion for your friends, family or close ones.

The only negative (ish) thing I will say about Haig’s book is that if you intend on buying it solely for the purpose of reading about depression, don’t. I found this book to be more about anxiety than depression, although it is extremely common that both go hand in hand together. Apart from this, I would highly recommend Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive as it offered me laughs, tears, and a lot of comfort in knowing that I wasn’t alone.