Reasons to Stay Alive by Haig, Matt -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents This book is impossible A note, before we get fully under way 1 Falling

The day I died Why depression is hard to understand A beautiful view A conversation across time – part one Pills Killer Things people say to depressives that they don’t say in other life-threatening situations Negative placebo Feeling the rain without an umbrella Life Infinity The hope that hadn’t happened The cyclone My symptoms The Bank of Bad Days Things depression says to you Facts The head against the window Pretty normal childhood A visit Boys don’t cry

2 Landing

Cherry blossom Unknown unknowns The brain is the body – part one Psycho Jenga days Warning signs Demons Existence

3 Rising

Things you think during your first panic attack Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack The art of walking on your own A conversation across time – part two Reasons to stay alive Love How to be there for someone with depression or anxiety An inconsequential moment Things that have happened to me that have generated more sympathy than depression Life on Earth to an alien White space The Power and the Glory Paris Reasons to be strong Weapons Running The brain is the body – part two Famous people Abraham Lincoln and the fearful gift Depression is . . . Depression is also . . . A conversation across time – part three

4 Living

The world Mushroom clouds The Big A Slow down Peaks and troughs Parenthesis Parties #reasonstostayalive Things that make me worse Things that (sometimes) make me better

5 Being

In praise of thin skins How to be a bit happier than Schopenhauer Self-help Thoughts on time Formentera Images on a screen Smallness How to live (forty pieces of advice I feel to be helpful but which I don’t always follow) Things I have enjoyed since the time I thought I would never enjoy anything again

Further Reading A note, and some acknowledgements Permissions credits