A friend recommended the book ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ by Matt Haig to me and I a
A friend recommended the book ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ by Matt Haig to me and I am honestly so thankful they did. I’m not an avid reader and I hardly ever read to fill my spare time, but something about this book has resonated with me and I haven’t been able to put it down since I bought it. I don’t recall a time when reading something has produced such a strong emotion from me, but by the time I finished this paragraph, I was crying uncontrollably. This book, for those who don’t know about it, is a real life account of one man’s journey through mental illness and although everyone’s experience of mental illness is different, there is something in his writing that is absolutely relatable. Perhaps it’s his way of being able to express confusing and often, alien emotions in words which is something I always struggled to do, but reading this book I realised I was not alone. Suffering from depression and experiencing self harm and suicidal thoughts always made me feel so alone, even though I was lucky to have the support of some amazing people, I still felt isolated because I didn’t want to be labelled by my mental illness and this book made me realise I’m not the only person going through this. There was a time in my life I will never be able to forget because I came so close to ending my life. During that time I remember thinking the pain was never going to end and despite the efforts of the people around me, I didn’t see a point in continuing. However, I was wrong. Since then I’ve learnt to appreciate the smaller accomplishes in life and to celebrate the small and seemingly insignificant things because nothing is insignificant anymore. At the end of my day, I try to think of just one good thing that happened to me and more often than not there’s more than one thing to think about. Life is worth living even when you believe it’s not. If any of my followers are struggling through difficult times, please remember you are not alone in this life. Help and support is available wherever you choose to look for it and I understand the courage and strength it takes to ask for that help, but please believe me that things get better. My ask box is always open if anyone wants to chat, vent their problems, needs help or simply wants to ask questions about my personal experience. I am more than happy to talk to any of you -- source link
#matt haig