Reasons to Stay Alive

by Matt Haig

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Everyone with depression and anxiety, or any other mental illnesses, experiences them differently. At the same time, there are overlaps familiar to anyone on that continuum. Matt Haig mapped out what depression and anxiety were like for him at the worst of times and what gave him hope to press on and not succumb to suicide. I appreciated that even though he was quite matter-of-fact about things, he kept things also quite personal to him. He outlined how he faced his fears and reasons (as the title promises) that help him face each day with the determination to keep on living. Another point that gave me pause (in a good way) was that he mentioned depression became a part of who he is — for example, he’s a writer because of depression — but it isn’t everything about who he is. I liked his simile that the sky came first and the sky is, even if there is a cloud, as the sky can exist without the cloud but the cloud cannot exist without the sky.