Depression and #ReasonsToStayAliveDepression and #ReasonsToStayAlive
All In The Mind
At 24, acclaimed novelist Matt Haig’s world suddenly fell apart—he could no longer see a reason to live. Haig’s memoir is an honest and inspiring account of how he emerged from severe depression and anxiety, and learned to live again.
28:50•31 May 2015
Matt Haig on Depression, Anxiety and Reasons to Stay Alive
Episode Overview
- Depression can feel uniquely alien, but many people share similar experiences, and it is a very real and serious illness.
- Suicidal thoughts may stem from panic and feeling trapped rather than a genuine wish to die, so judgemental language around suicide is unhelpful.
- Time can gradually prove depression’s bleak predictions wrong, giving you evidence and "armour" for future episodes.
- Physical practices like running, yoga and breathing exercises can reduce panic and support recovery, though what works is highly individual.
- Talking and writing about depression can externalise a very internal experience, making it feel more manageable and less alien.
“Depression is also smaller than you. Always it's smaller than you, even when it feels vast. It operates within you. You don't operate within it.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on "All In The Mind" zooms in on depression, anxiety and the reasons someone might choose to stay alive when everything feels impossible. Novelist Matt Haig talks with host Lynne Malcolm about the week-long panic attack that tipped him into severe depression while living in Ibiza, and the suicidal thoughts that followed. He explains that it wasn’t about wanting to die: "It was like being trapped.
So it was like being in a burning building and wanting to jump out of the window." That distinction alone might make many people rethink how they view suicide and mental pain. You’ll hear Haig unpack symptoms many people never talk about, like derealisation – feeling unreal and cut-and-pasted from another reality – and the intense mix of depression with anxiety, his "fast forward depression".
He stresses that depression "lies" and gives you the worst reading of your life, but time can prove those lies wrong as birthdays, relationships and ordinary joys slowly stack up. Instead of medication, which didn’t suit him, Haig leaned on running, yoga, breathing exercises, writing and reading.
He calls books "escape routes" and a "home for an uprooted mind", and describes writing as one of his ways out of depression, turning his thin skin into a way to feel the good stuff more as well as the pain. The chat also touches on stigma, the limits of brain science and why depression is both deeply individual and yet widely shared.
Haig is determined to be honest without dragging people down, insisting depression is smaller than you: "If that's the metaphor, you are the sky." If you or someone you care about is struggling, could a story like this help you see pain, time and recovery in a new light?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.