A book review of Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.
This is a fine book about the pain and suffering of depression and anxiety.
Some books, especially those written with treatment in mind, can be dry and emotionless; this isn’t, this is refreshing, honest and frank. For me, it’s importance lies in the fact that it’s written, not by a clinician or a psychologist, but by a person who knows how depression feels, and has had to live with it, day after day.
However, this is not a book that a depressed person would read to find a solution. It’s not a treatment plan. It’s power, for a sufferer of depression and/or anxiety, lies in the wholesome realisation that one is not alone. This is a book that speaks to all of us, about all of us.
This would, I believe, be the perfect book for someone who has a depressed or anxious loved one; be it friend, family or partner. In fact, I would go as far to say, essential reading. Any idea that a depressed person can just ‘snap out of it’, or ‘pull themselves together’ would be swept aside.
The only criticism I have of the book, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing or it’s content, would be with the publishers. This book is small, and short. It has a larger than normal font size, and a lot of white space. And it’s a tenner. My 1,300 word epic of ‘The Stand’, by Stephen King was £11. Come on Canongate, if you priced it reasonably then maybe more people would have bought it, and benefited.
The book begins with Matt taking us back in time to Ibiza about 20, 25 years ago, when he stood on top of a cliff and seriously contemplated jumping. We know, of course, that he didn’t, but it’s still a tense and moving account of a human being quite literally on the edge. It was love that stayed him.
I would suggest reading this book in conjunction with ‘Lost Connections’ by Johann Hari. A very different style of book, and part III does begin to get a little outside the box, but it’s contrast lies in that it’s a bit more grounded in the causes of depression and anxiety; many societal actually. In fact glancing at the said book on my desk as I’m typing this I’ve just noticed, on the front cover, an endorsement;
‘Brilliant, stimulating, radical’
Matt Haig
Enough said.
I would also like to point out that Matt’s book isn’t a depressing book about depression, which may sound a contradiction, there are parts that are funny. Especially so for a depressant, I would add. A depressant would find themselves grinning, and then muttering; ‘Jesus, I do that’, or ‘Jesus, I think like that’.
Matt mentions an article about Abraham Lincoln, one of history’s famous depressants, or melancholy, as they called it then. The article is in The Atlantic, and is easily Googled. It’s worth a read.
The book isn’t written traditionally—chapter after chapter—it’s more episodic than that. For instance one page is about ‘what mental health problems are not’;
A fad
A celebrity trend
Fashionable
Or my favourite, ‘a result of a growing awareness of mental health problems’.
Try telling that to Lincoln or, as another section points out; Buzz Aldrin, Halle Barry, Billy Joel, Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, to name just a few.
A couple of other sections are; ‘How to be there for someone with depression or anxiety’. Listen, and educate yourself are two out of the ten that Matt lists.
And, ‘Things that have happened to me that have generated more sympathy than depression’. Living in Hull in January (although that must have come close), and bad Amazon reviews (I should be so lucky).
I can’t finish this review with mentioning Andrea, Matt’s girlfriend from his Ibiza days and now his wife. It appears, very clearly, that she has been his rock and has stood by him through some very bleak times. Depressants need love, and it’s obvious that she gave it in abundance.
A marvellous, moving, important book. Everyone should read it.
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