Reasons to Stay Alive

by Matt Haig, published by Canongate books Ltd 2015 

ISBN 978 78211 508 3

 An excellent book summarising how one can feel when depression hits. The author gives a very personal account of his own problems with the ‘Black dog’. He describes how at one stage he very nearly committed suicide, but was able to recover and get on with his life to become a successful author.

 Key feature in the book is the emphasis on the fact that everybody is different and that minds are unique. The depression that affects one person may be very different to depression in another. As an example of this Matt Haig says that drugs had no effect on his situation, but readily admits that other people may find drugs helpful.

The author’s problems started when he was an early teenager and he was teased and bullied by other people. While this did not lead to depression at that stage in his life, he believes it was the underlying factor in depression, which arose when he was 24.

The book goes into personal details of the author’s own experience and it also has facts and information about depression and about some of the many famous people who have suffered. The book claims that 1 million people per year commit suicide and between 10 and 20 million attempt suicide, worldwide. Men are 3 times more likely to kill themselves than women. It is also claimed that one in 5 people get depression at some time in their lives. Antidepressants are on the rise everywhere – the highest consumption being in Iceland followed by Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal and the UK. Women are more likely to seek and receive treatment for mental health problems than men.

The book gives a long list of well-known people who have suffered depression. These include: Buzz Aldrin, Winston Churchill, Steven Fry, Judy Garland, Anne Hathaway, Abraham Lincoln, Wolfgang Mozart, Isaac Newton, Princess Diana and many others. The author speculates that perhaps the depression makes thinkers out of those who have it and perhaps in some cases, the depression has helped them in the work they have done. This concept is not considered very deeply in the book, but perhaps it is something that is worth considering further.

 The author made a social media request asking people to send him a ‘Twitter’ comment, giving a reason for them to stay alive. He received a large number of responses. These are fascinating to look at and occupy one chapter of the book. These are some of the items mentioned: “Friends, family, acceptance and knowing the Black dog will leave eventually”; “Very simply my children – they didn’t ask to be born to a mum who at times struggles to keep together”; “The hole you leave behind is bigger than the pain you suffer by being”; “Not everyone thinks you’re as much a waste of space as you do when you’re in the depths of depression – trust others”.

 He has a wonderful chapter that he calls “How to Live (40 pieces of advice I feel to be helpful but which I don’t always follow)”. Picking out a few of these:

•        Appreciate happiness when it is there.
•        Sip, don’t gulp.
•       Be gentle with yourself. Work less. Sleep more.
•       There is absolutely nothing in the past that you can change. That’s basic physics.
•        Be wary of Tuesdays. And Octobers!
•        Kurt Vonnegut was right. “Reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found”.
•        Listen more than you talk.
•        Hate is a pointless emotion inside you. It is like eating a scorpion to punish it for stinging you.
•        Go for a run. Then do some yoga.
•        Understand that thoughts are thoughts. If they are unreasonable, reason with them, even if you have no reason left. You are the observer of your mind, not its victim.
•        If someone loves you, let them. Believe in that love. Live for them, even when you feel there is no point.
•        Three in the morning is never the time to try and sort out your life.
•        Remember that there is nothing weird about you. You are just a human, and everything you do and feel is a natural thing, because we are natural animals. You are nature. You are a hominoid ape. You are in the world and the world is in you. Everything connects.
•        Remember that the key thing about life-on-earth is change. Cars rust. Paper yellows. Technology dates. Caterpillars become butterflies. Nights morph into days. Depression lifts.
•        Be brave. Be strong. Breathe, and keep going. You will thank yourself later.

There are many other items in his wonderful list.

 This is indeed an excellent book for anyone feeling they may be moving into depression and for anyone who has a friend or relative in depression. As he says everybody is different, but there are some common themes which can help all of us. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to get an insight into how some of us think. In fact I recommend it for everyone. It is easy and fun to read!

 RH Brown

17 June 2015