REASONS TO STAY ALIVE BY MATT HAIG | DISCUSSION | JANUARY 2018

REASONS TO STAY ALIVE  BY MATT HAIG | DISCUSSION

I have been intrigued by this book ever since I saw it. From someone that suffers from anxiety and how our society has somewhat dented the stigma of mental health interests me. Most people suffer with some kind of mental illness, and I think it is remarkable how many people are now able to find the confidence to speak out and put their mental health first now, however the stigma is still apparent in some cases. People still don't understand it like they should, people don't have the emphatic understanding of the feeling of living with a mental illness and how it affects them in the long run.

This memoir is the first that I've read that addresses mental health in such a inspirational and motivating way. Matt Haig, I follow on social media, and even that I admire, so I knew that the book was going to be an extension of my admiration. It mainly talks about his struggle through depression and how he got through it. In my experience many people don't even feel they can talk about it to anyone, never mind a doctor. Mental illness isn't easy, and it's even harder to talk about. What Matt does in his memoir is make it a subject that people will feel comfortable to talk about with friends and family. He goes through what makes him feel better and lifts him from depression, he describes the feelings and emotions he felt when going through it, which will make the readers more at ease that they're not alone in their struggle. Its a memoir but also it's like a self help guide to people that are struggling with mental illness. He doesn't describe his success story because he still has good and bad days (like most of us), mental illness is a journey through your entire life. Just like a physical illness where it can prohibit your quality of life, and change your life in many ways; so can mental illness. This is what I take from this novel, it's not a simple journey of getting rid of all the negative thoughts that goes through your head when you are mentally unwell, you have to live with the fear of those thoughts creeping back in, and internally battling with your bad days when no one else can see or feel them. 

The book is separated in to sections; falling, landing, rising, living and being. This is much more than just a memoir, Matt Haig is telling his story to establish with the audience how you can improve your capabilities of dealing with mental illness, and most of them you can achieve without being diagnosed with depression or anxiety, or have a therapist, or have help from anyone else. The poignant point of the book is the section titles (he also adds in quotes from literary icons at the start of each section which is very COOL and relatable)  and what people need to understand is that unlike a physical illness of a cold or flu it will go away, but mental illness is more like a broken bone; it won't really every feel or be the same again, you just have to learn to live with it. As you can tell I'm extremely passionate about mental health, and reading this book had added to my awareness of peoples feelings, as well as my own and what I have to do to calm myself down or make things 'normal' again in my own head. 

If you have Twitter, follow Matt Haig his words are inspiring. If you are in a bookshop pick up any of his books, but if you want some guidance or if you're struggling with your own mental health pick up 'Reasons to Stay Alive' (I must add that 'How To Stop Time' is rather good as well).  

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the book;

- You are walking around with your head on fire, but no one can see the flames. 
- The desire to step outside of myself for a while. A week, a day, an hour. Hell, just for a second. 
- Life is hard. It may be beautiful and wonderful. But it is still hard' 
- 'That it will never come again is what it makes it so sweet' -Emily Dickinson
- That shell might be protecting you, but it's also stopping you feeling the full force of the good stuff' 
- There is this idea that you read books to escape or you read to find yourself' 
- If there is a way out, a way that isn't death itself, then the exit route is through words'
- 'Every time I read a good book I felt I was reading a kind of map, a treasure map, and the treasure I was directed to was on actual fact myself' 
- Books were about movement. They are about quests and journeys. Beginnings and middles and ends, even if not in that order. They were about new chapters. And leaving old ones behind' 
-The whole of  'How to live ~(forty pieces of advice I feel to be helpful but which I don't always follow) chapter' 

Happy Reading
Rose x