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misty_nightmare's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Addiction, and Body shaming
helhas3letters's review
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
In this book, Haig outlines why he thinks humans have become stressed out and anxious by default. He largely puts it down to overwhelm and overstimulation in the age of information, and a neglect for taking good care of ourselves. Throughout the book, he reflects on different aspects of modern life, using statistics and studies, personal anecdotes, and more poetic creative writing.
Haig is a really accessible writer and easy to read. My main gripe with Notes on a Nervous Planet is that although it points out some important issues and backs them up with evidence, it doesn't provide many solutions for them. I enjoyed the chapters that came after the outlining of certain problems, which provided a numbered list of 'things you can do to X'/'changes you can make to stop Y', but I would have liked those solutions to be explored a bit more.
I also think that although Haig overall made some really good points in this book, it was very broad and I wish it was more focused. He took on a massive topic and, although he did split it into sections, each of these sections could easily be a book in and of themselves.
I recommend this as a good overview or introduction to the topic. However, if you want more in-depth discussion on, for example, the effects that social media has on our brains, or what lack of sleep does to us and why it's so important, or why the news has us in a state of panic all the time, then I'd recommend picking up a more specific book. (E.g. Outraged by Ashley 'Dotty' Charles, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Factfulness by Hans Rosling.)
Haig is a really accessible writer and easy to read. My main gripe with Notes on a Nervous Planet is that although it points out some important issues and backs them up with evidence, it doesn't provide many solutions for them. I enjoyed the chapters that came after the outlining of certain problems, which provided a numbered list of 'things you can do to X'/'changes you can make to stop Y', but I would have liked those solutions to be explored a bit more.
I also think that although Haig overall made some really good points in this book, it was very broad and I wish it was more focused. He took on a massive topic and, although he did split it into sections, each of these sections could easily be a book in and of themselves.
I recommend this as a good overview or introduction to the topic. However, if you want more in-depth discussion on, for example, the effects that social media has on our brains, or what lack of sleep does to us and why it's so important, or why the news has us in a state of panic all the time, then I'd recommend picking up a more specific book. (E.g. Outraged by Ashley 'Dotty' Charles, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Factfulness by Hans Rosling.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Mental illness, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming
jbellomy's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism and Eating disorder
Minor: Body shaming, Death, and Medical content
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