The right books helped him find himself once more.Īs he discovered characters that felt alienated, he began to realize that he wasn’t as alone as he thought. Although many use literature as a way to escape their reality, the author experienced the opposite. Haig’s perspective was completely drowning in depression and anxiety.īut hope came in the form of an unlikely hero: books. He couldn’t adequately express his feelings to family and friends in a way they could comprehend.īecause his paradigm was so different from theirs, it was like “trying to describe earth to aliens.” Even more frustrating was the fact that he didn’t really know how to explain what was going on to himself. It’s frustrating to not be able to make yourself understood, which is just what the author experienced after his panic attack. Have you ever tried to explain a complicated concept to a friend? While you know how to do everything from opening your mouth to saying the words, they often just don’t get it. If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.ĭownload PDF Lesson 1: Get out of your own head by reading books if you want some help to get through depression.

Recovery won’t be as straightforward as you think, but it is possible.Īre you ready to discover some powerful lessons on mental health? Let’s go!.There are some benefits to mental illness, which even some of the world’s greatest leaders experienced.If you’re depressed, reading books to get out of your own head can help.Here are 3 helpful lessons I got out of this book:

He outlines these tips, along with his entire story, in Reasons to Stay Alive. But Haig discovered some simple strategies that helped him get through it. We can’t pin down the exact cause of mental illness and its impossible to prescribe a one-size-fits-all fix to it. Thankfully, he learned a few strategies to cope and now lives a happy life with his wife and kids. From an anxiety-filled camping trip as a youth, to a college presentation that made him hyperventilate, his mental illness was always there.īut like most people with depression, and especially men, social isolation kept Matt from getting the help he needed until it was almost too late. While it seemed sudden at the time, Haig looked back and noticed the signs were always there. It also began a long road to recovery from the depression and anxiety he’d been silently experiencing. Listen to the audio of this summary with a free reading.fm account*:Īt just 24-years-old, while living in sunny Ibiza, Spain with his girlfriend, Matt Haig had a terrible panic attack that left him in bed for three days.

100 reasons to stay alive book