Mental health in changing world

Notes on a Nervous Planet

AUTHOR: Matt Haig PUBLISHER: Canongate RRP: $27.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

HERE is a man who has experienced deep despair.

Writing this book appears to have served as a catharsis for Matt Haig who in his earlier years endured unexplained anxiety and panic attacks.

Although there may be no visible threat and no apparent reason, anxiety can leave one feeling utterly terrified.

Matt began looking for answers to a world that is evolving faster than many of us can cope with, and trying to untangle the link between our modern lives and out mental states.

Matt finds that mental wellbeing is just as important as physical wellbeing and that indeed they are linked.

Rates of stress and anxiety are rising. A fast, nervous planet is creating fast and nervous lives.

Through mass advertising and the media, we are encouraged to worry about everything from world politics to our body mass index.

Matt asks how we can stay sane on a planet that makes us mad. When even reading the daily newspaper or watching TV, we are encouraged to feel anxious, how do we achieve happiness?

Matt suggests turning off the phone, social media, our computer, emails, the internet and avoid coffee and alcohol, to achieve mental health. This strategy worked wonders for him.

Matt’s trenchant short chapters are an easy read.

While there are many positive sides to the internet, like watching old movies and staying in touch with friends, for many it’s an almost robotic obsession.

Matt suggests opening the window to the sky and fresh air and getting more deeply in touch with our selves.

We need to edit the choices we have. “Everything we need is here, if we give up thinking we need everything.”

Laced with wit as well as wisdom, here is a book for our times.

LACED WITH WIT AS WELL AS WISDOM, HERE IS A BOOK FOR OUR TIMES.