In an author’s note to his 2013 novel The Humans, Matt Haig explained it was partly a metaphor for his experience with mental illness.
Reasons To Stay Alive takes this further in a genre-straddling mix of memoir, blog and self-help book that explores his struggle with depression and anxiety, which began 14 years ago with a nervous breakdown, in a vaguely chronological stream of consciousness.
Haig tries to explain depression but has to resort to metaphor – he wants to escape his “mind on fire”.
Instead, he lists symptoms, facts about depression and its high occurrence, tips for coping and tweets with the hashtag #reasonstostayalive.
He emphasises the importance of love – especially the vital presence of his wife Andrea – and of physical health to counterbalance the effects. It is enlightening for someone without mental health problems and – I imagine – could comfort those with them.
As Haig says in a ‘dialogue’ with his 24-year-old, suicidal self: You make it, and on the other side of this is life.
