Reasons to Stay Alive

My advice is steer clear of this book. Matt needs to stay in his lane, which is writing fiction & NOT giving medical advice! It is depressing & ultimately disturbing that he claims SSRI’s are proven not to work-yet cites no evidence-while millions everyday take them. Sure, in the future, there may be better cures, but the brain is an organ like any other, and needs care & attention & sometimes meds. (As a nurse who worked in psych I have seen their effectiveness) Tossed it in the trash so it did not fall into hands where it could do serious harm! NO ONE should abruptly stop psych meds

Reasons to Stay Alive is one of Matt Haig's most profound books yet. If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health issues, this read is a buffet for the soul. Be weary of Haig's travel tales, which while distorted by trauma, may still make you jealous during pandemic lockdown. However, one thing I learned from this book is that comparing one's surface-level experiences to another's is not indicative of either parties well-being. Highly recommend this comfort read filled with unintentional bouts of wisdom.

As someone who’s been depressed for most of their life, I was really ready to fall in love with this book as I’d only ever heard fantastic reviews, by people who’s opinions I trusted. However, despite the author repeatedly saying that all depression is different and no experience of depression is invalid, I really felt disconnected with this book. For the first time in my life, I’d call someone’s discussion of their depression “whining” as he goes on about him suddenly stopping being able to function. I think this may be simply a failure of mine to be connected to the book, but I really wouldn’t recommend this book to someone, although in most cases i wouldn’t tell them not to read it either.