This book was not what I expected since I didn't read the synopsis before I started listening...

Maybe it's a good thing because otherwise I might not have picked it up. This book is a no censure story of how it feels to live with a depression. Big part of it was a heavy read, although it ended in a hopeful tone.

I am glad I picked it up because I had no clue what an actual depression feels like. I was never one of those that would tell someone to just get over their mental problem, but now I have a better idea of how hard life with depression can be. ( )

I listened to the author read the book while on a car trip. I listened so I could better understand those in my life that have issues with depression. This book is part memoir and sharing of methods the author has found to live with his struggles with depression. I don't know if the advice he gives is good or bad, so I don't feel comfortable giving the book a rating better than three stars. He is obviously being as transparent as possible in this book, and I applaud him in doing so. I will let others decide whether his advice is good or bad. ( )

Good lord, read this book in one afternoon, too shocked to cry, too shocked to have room for words afterwards. This. Pretty much exactly this is how I've been feeling for over 30 years. God I'm tired.

My reasons:
- I've seen what it does to the people around you. You multiply and transfer your pain. Not cool.
- Lovely vulnerable fallible humans all around me, trying so hard.

I need to recuperate, then read this again, and annotate the shit out of it. Compulsive swallowing! I thought it was just me! I thought I was insane! I never even told anyone, how is this a thing more people have?!

Mind. Blown.
( )

Since Reasons to Stay Alive is a book I can’t pigeonhole into a specific genre (I'm a little OCD in wanting to) I think I would have asked Matt Haig the question his editor didn’t – "is it a memoir or a self-help book or an overview?" The truth is it’s all of those things and probably more depending on the reader. For me, it was a short book that took a long time to read because I found I had to keep stopping to process what it had to say. My own experiences with depression and anxiety are limited to the garden variety I think most of us know about so, as the author points out in one chapter, I didn’t have the reference points. But I’ve seen the effects depression can have and wanted to understand it better, especially the ‘reasons to stay alive’ that help those who suffer from it. The chapter #reasonstostayalive that listed people's answers to the question, "what keeps you going?" the author posted online was, to me, the most illuminating and relatable part of this book. ( )

I read this book in spurts, but that has everything to do with my own mental health issues interfering with my ability to focus, and absolutely nothing to do with the book itself. The book is beautifully written, and is truly a treasure that I’m sure I will refer back to from time to time. ( )