Two books by Matt Haig are relevant to Minding Therapy readers. Whereas Notes on a Nervous Planet is about his anxiety, Reasons to Stay Alive is about his depression.
I. Notes on a Nervous Planet (2018)
“I wanted to write a book about how you can look at the world as a singular psychiatric patient, as a case study,” [Matt Haig] explains. “How so many of the problems that the world faces are parallel to what a depressed or suicidal or scared person would do if they were seeking rash solutions” (Lisa Allardice, The Guardian).
A pertinent quote:
I sometimes feel like my head is a computer with too many windows open. Too much clutter on the desktop. There is a metaphorical spinning rainbow wheel inside me. Disabling me. And if only I could find a way to switch off some of the frames, if only I could drag some of the clutter into the trash, then I would be fine. But which frame would I choose, when they all seem so essential? How can I stop my mind being overloaded when the world is overloaded? We can think about anything. And so it makes sense that we end up thinking about everything. We might have to, sometimes, be brave enough to switch the screens off in order to switch ourselves back on. To disconnect in order to reconnect.
Kirkus Reviews, regarding Haig’s recommendations: “Haig’s solutions align with the current trend of mindfulness exercises—conscious breathing techniques, meditation, walks in nature, etc.—but he also expounds on the deeper benefits derived from reading good books and other activities. His prescription is to embrace the best of what modern culture has to offer and attempt to find balance rather than allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the increasing demands of so much social and technological stimuli.”
II. Reasons to Stay Alive (2015)
Based on his own young-adult experiences, Reasons to Stay Alive is “brief, episodic vignettes, not of a tranquil life but of an existence of unbearable, unsustainable melancholy. Throughout his story, presented in bits frequently less than a page long (e.g., ‘Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack’), the author considers phases he describes in turn as Falling, Landing, Rising, Living, and, finally, simply Being with spells of depression (Kirkus Reviews).
“Haig admits he tried medication briefly but it didn’t help him and his anxiety about medications made it worse. He did not seek therapy but tried to make gradual changes on his own after struggling significantly for over a year. For Haig, running, yoga, meditation, writing, and his family seem to be the things that have helped him. In the end, these are also some of the reasons he stays alive” (sanchwrites.com).
Selected Quotes:
You can be a depressive and be happy, just as you can be a sober alcoholic.
Things people say to depressives that they don’t say in other life-threatening situations:
Come on, I know you’ve got tuberculosis, but it could be worse. At least no one’s died.’
Why do you think you got cancer of the stomach?
Yes, I know, colon cancer is hard, but you want to try living with someone who has got it. Sheesh. Nightmare.
Oh, Alzheimer’s you say? Oh, tell me about it, I get that all the time.
Ah, meningitis. Come on, mind over matter.
Yes, yes, your leg is on fire, but talking about it all the time isn’t going to help things, is it?
Okay. Yes. Yes. Maybe your parachute has failed. But chin up.
