Reasons to Stay Alive

I've been listening to Reasons to Stay Alive as an audiobook for days now, listening to the entire book, starting again at the beginning and listening again, and doing that again, and I've just finished copying three pages of quotes from the book into my journal where I can think about them and write about them, and I think it's time that I write a review of this book.

There is no way I can do this book justice. But I want to try.

I had two terrible rounds with depression and I have struggled (still struggle) with anxiety. The first round was in seventh grade when I started a new school, but it magically lifted as I made friends and became more social. It hit me hard my first year in college, when I knew no one and spoke to no one and fell deeper and deeper into the abyss. It was my uncle who recognized it in me (his wife had suffered with depression all her life) and it was he who encouraged me to take action, to do something different, that ultimately eased me out of the pit.

This book, had I read it when I was 12 or 18, would have saved my life. Haig dares to reveal the details of his time lost in that pain and shares wonderful helpful ways to claw your way out of that awfulness. He uses vivid imagery to share the experience, and I nod my head, remembering (Oh, yes, I recall walking around with my head on fire, with no one to see the flames). Humor tames the demon, somehow, and sharing the experience lets us know that we are not alone, and offering up ways to fight a return to that hell helps.

Thank you, Matt Haig.