Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

71 reviews

mymellowmania's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

Topics like depression and anxiety are very difficult to write about, especially through your own experience. Personally, I enjoyed the beginning of this when I picked it up and I was down. Hearing someone else's perspective on the same issue makes you feel better somehow. I loved how easy and light-paced this book was. It was very simplified, but I felt like it covered most of it. Also, learned some very interesting facts, which won't be easily forgotten. (But, I hate to say this some chapters actually did increase my anxiety).

This could be a great read for people who aren't really familiar with depression and anxiety (especially anxiety). For others, like me, who are looking for a break from the 'Fiction' world, could turn to this. It was a nice breather, and not a waste of time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicide attempt

starrygoldeneyes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

shinysarah28's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide

rhiannejade's review

hopeful reflective fast-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lani's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

reading_between_the_trees's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Mental health is hard to talk about. It's a vulnerable subject with so much stigma attached to it, which can make it feel like you're completely alone when you're experiencing mental illness. And what makes it so much scarier is how little we know about the brain and what works for mental health. But this book brings all of those dark and scary feelings into the light. Haig points out just how many people suffer from mental illness and how not alone you are. And he gives the reader everything that he learned in the darkest depths of his suffering. All the validation and affirmations, all the reasons to stay alive. One of my biggest takeaways was that what works for one person may not work for another, and we might not have any idea why, but we all are perfectly justified to just do what works for us. The other thing was that it might be a profitable idea that mental illness is a simple chemical imbalance that can be fixed by a pill, and medication definitely works for so many people, but that is not all that mental illness is. It is such an entangled part of our lives, and it takes a reworking of your lifestyle and identity to conceptualize how you exist with the anxiety or depression or whatever it is, and there is no shame in that. There is no shame in being a person who suffers from mental illness. You are not alone.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you are looking for some comfort and validation in your suffering. I will definitely be picking up more books by Matt Haig.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm

carrie_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

abbieslibrary's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.0

This is the first Matt Haig book that I have read and I generally enjoyed it. I liked the mix between Matt's experiences and his more inspirational paragraphs/chapters. Matt has a really great writing style - somehow making heavy content easy-to-read and speaks about it in a generally blunt but also poetic way. 

It was interesting to read his coping mechanisms for feeling depressed and stricken with anxiety and I loved his reinforcement of the unevenness of recovery and 'progress'. It just made it feel more realistic, rather than books that are linear in their outlook of progression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness

reusablecup's review

inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide