If you’re depressed, get money, a partner & family!

I’ve seen SO many rave reviews of this book, and it just made me rant. I do like Matts writing and reading but to me this is ‘miss-sold’ as effectively you learn that his ever present girlfriend and well off family enable him to ride out his depression.. and those are not things available to huge amount of people who suffer from depression.

This could be made ok if he made any allusion to the fact there may be people out there that suffer alone, broke and forced to work, but it seems to be written solely for those able to approach things in the same way as Matt.

I’m really glad he’s managed to work his way through and found ways that work for him, but don’t recommend this book for those looking for solutions or understanding unless you’re middle class, masters educated and have money for travel.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

319 people found this helpful

A brave work for which I am so grateful

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Firstly, I would recommend this to people who don't suffer with mental illness but who want a better understanding of those who do. Partners, employers, politicians.

Primarily, I would recommend this book to friends suffering with their own mental health battles because Matt Haig's words give us permission to feel like normal, natural human beings again, despite and because of the struggle that is depression. This book is brave and terribly personal and it reassured me to know that I am not the only person to struggle as I do.

And, above all, I would recommend this book because Matt reassures us, in a calm and resounding voice, that depression does lift and that we will feel joy again.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Andrea was my favourite character, just as my partner is my favourite person in the world. To someone living with depression, the strength, patience, understanding and LOVE shown by our nearest and dearest is astounding, especially in those times when depression wears its ugliest face.

What about Matt Haig’s performance did you like?

I loved Matt Haig's performance and it meant more to me that this personal account was read by the person who lived through it to tell the tale.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it pretty much all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Thank you to Matt Haig, you've helped me more than you know and I hope I'll meet you one day and thank you in person.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

50 people found this helpful

reasons to stay alive

I did have to stop reading this book it made me feel even more depressed

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

49 people found this helpful

Not for me

I feel for Matt regarding his experience, and it’s good to hear that he is managing it now and has come through the other side. The account of what depression and anxiety are is good, as is the way Matt tells the story, but I didn’t really take anything away that could actually help, other than managing the situation. There is little reference to dealing with the root cause, and I find that this is an issue in the society we live in, in general. I feel that the work of Dr David Hawkins, Lester Levenson, Eckhart Tolle, and many more, around working with the feeling and dissolving it resonates much more with me.
Having said that, this is probably a great book for those feeling isolated about their depression and anxiety - it’s an honest account that can help people to feel more connected to others and also understand their own challenges more.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

44 people found this helpful

Words of wisdom

Matt Haig delivers exactly what you expect in this book. This is an achingly intimate account of his descent into depression and his description of his experience is vivid and disturbing. He then goes on to explain that depression isn't a personal failure or an inevitable downward spiral. If anything his appreciation of life, things and the people he loves has been enhanced by his experience. This is a book that should be shared with people who suffer from depression and anxiety and the people who are close to them. There is so much joy in this little book and I felt ten years younger after listening to it.

I recommended reading The Humans after this. You will get the link.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

37 people found this helpful

Amazing

I purchased reasons to stay alive on audible and so heard the story of Matt's journey into, through and out of depression told as if he were explaining it. I believe this made the experience much better although I also think that you can probably hear his voice in the book too, he is such an amazing author.

I loved this book and frequently listen to chapters just to remind myself of the message that Matt is sharing. I won't tell you what that is because I think it will be something different for each of us. I think that you should hear it though :) What I can say is that this stopped me in my tracks , more than once. It made me think about my life and the lives of people around me . It helped me to know about dark times and light.

I wish that the whole world would read this book, and I'd love it if , once we have, we could all talk about its content .

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

33 people found this helpful

Disappointing Conclusion

The first half of the book was life changing, as someone who currently suffers from panic disorder I loved Matt’s descriptions and depictions of experiencing mental illness, with the “going to the shop” inner monologue a particular highlight. However from there it jumped very quickly from agoraphobia to neutral thoughts to “and then I started running and was better” without a lot of insights into the process. The last few chapters were overly philosophical and waffly, and the twitter chapter seemed insensitive to people at the darkest end of mental illness (who I assume are the largest demographic of readers!), who wish that family, friends, and bacon sandwiches could be enough to pull them from depression, but alas they often are not.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

Am I allowed to not like this?

I am very interested in mental health and psychology, and I know that everyone has to cope with it in their own individual way. Haig says in his book that writing helped him cope with his depression, and obviously other people have also found it helpful. So the book has served it's purpose.

I however, really struggled to keep listening. The first half came across as a long protracted cry of self-pity, and the second half a long series of self-help cliches culled from various "books wot I ave red". Interspersed with personal anecdotes that go nowhere, and tendentious cod-philosophy, usually without any kind of context.

I *know* that feeling sorry for oneself is an unavoidable part of depression, and is *not* a character weakness. But I found the author's apparent determination to see something heroic in endless misery infuriating. At several points he seems to me to come dangerously close to suggesting that depression and hypochondria are a necessary pre-condition for being able to truly appreciate the finer points of human existence: which I think is balderdash. Depression is not "ennobling" and mental suffering without purpose, has no more virtue than physical suffering without purpose.

Towards the end of the book, Haig writes - "More harm is done by work than by idleness". And this perfectly summed up my problem with the book, it's all about wallowing inside the self, and not about being focused and purposeful. Which IMHO is the only thing that will keep people stable after the sugar-rush of self-help mantras has dissipated.

I'm delighted that Haig found writing this book helped him over-come his demons. And I'm delighted it's helped so many other people too - but I found it exasperating.


I didn't like the narrator either, but that might just be because I found the material he was reading uncompelling.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

Company and Catharsis

Congratulations to Matt Haig for being a survivor of such a horrible illness. Thanks for providing an account of your own experience which can give company to those going through their own. I hope you found catharsis in sharing it and I wish you - and all readers - respite from the black dog.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

LIVING with depression rather than dying from it

The word enlightening in greatly over used but this book is just that. Enlightening. With brutal honesty as well as humour the author sets out his own baffling journey from the onset to his eventual recovery from depression. This story gives those who have not have experienced severe clinical depression great insight into what that illness is and what it means to go through it, for the sufferer and for those close to them.

When talking about suicide the author says "I didn't really want to die. I just wanted the pain to stop." That really made me think about what prompts people do take their own lives and it has nothing to do with attention seeking or selfishness.

Everyone should read or listen to this book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

22 people found this helpful