Table Of Content

Cover Page: i Praise for Reasons to Stay Alive Page: i About the Author Page: ii Also by Matt Haig Page: ii Title Page Page: ii Copyright Page: ii Contents Page: ii Dedication Page: ix This book is impossible Page: 1 A note, before we get fully underway Page: 5 1: Falling Page: 7 The day I died Page: 9 Why depression is hard to understand Page: 14 A beautiful view Page: 16 A conversation across time—part one Page: 20 Pills Page: 22 Killer Page: 25 Things people say to depressives that they don’t say in other life-threatening situations Page: 26 Negative placebo Page: 28 Feeling the rain without an umbrella Page: 30 Life Page: 36 Infinity Page: 39 The hope that hadn’t happened Page: 41 The cyclone Page: 44 My symptoms Page: 46 The bank of bad days Page: 50 Things depression says to you Page: 51 Facts Page: 53 The head against the window Page: 56 Pretty normal childhood Page: 59 A visit Page: 63 Boys don’t cry Page: 65 2: Landing Page: 69 Cherry blossom Page: 71 Unknown unknowns Page: 73 The brain is the body—part one Page: 78 Psycho Page: 79 Jenga days Page: 83 Warning signs Page: 86 Demons Page: 89 Existence Page: 92 3: Rising Page: 95 Things you think during your first panic attack Page: 97 Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack Page: 98 The art of walking on your own Page: 99 A conversation across time—part two Page: 108 Reasons to stay alive Page: 110 Love Page: 113 How to be there for someone with depression or anxiety Page: 119 An inconsequential moment Page: 121 Things that have happened to me that have generated more sympathy than depression Page: 122 Life on Earth to an alien Page: 124 White space Page: 127 The Power and the Glory Page: 132 Paris Page: 139 Reasons to be strong Page: 145 Weapons Page: 150 Running Page: 152 The brain is the body—part two Page: 155 Famous people Page: 158 Abraham Lincoln and the fearful gift Page: 165 Depression is . . . Page: 172 Depression is also . . . Page: 174 A conversation across time—part three Page: 175 4: Living Page: 179 The world Page: 181 Mushroom clouds Page: 183 The big A Page: 189 Slow down Page: 192 Peaks and troughs Page: 196 Parenthesis Page: 197 Parties Page: 198 #reasonstostayalive Page: 202 Things that make me worse Page: 211 Things that (sometimes) make me better Page: 213 5: Being Page: 215 In praise of thin skins Page: 217 How to be a bit happier than Schopenhauer Page: 221 Self-help Page: 228 Thoughts on time Page: 229 Formentera Page: 231 Images on a screen Page: 233 Smallness Page: 237 How to live (forty pieces of advice I feel to be helpful but which I don’t always follow) Page: 238 Things I have enjoyed since the time I thought I would never enjoy anything again Page: 244 Further Reading Page: 247 A note, and some acknowledgments Page: 251 Permissions credits Page: 255

Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library. "Destined to become a modern classic." —Entertainment Weekly WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE? At the age of 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth. "I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see it . . . Words, just sometimes, really can set you free."