Review: Notes on a Nervous Planet

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Matt Haig, a British author who had undergone deep depression, suicidal period of his life and still having anxieties, has written the book about everything which makes us more anxious - and the remedies to it.

What was good about this book? Bringing out mental health as something we should talk about, something we should not be ashamed of, something we need to acknowledge and work on. It was also interesting to read Matt Haig's descriptions of his occurrences of strong anxiety and how he was dealing with.

Mostly, however, I found this book rather superficial and annoying even. All the advice is rather basic - and very few sources to the claims are brought out. Consuming a lot of media and news, spending a lot of time in social media and in crowded spaces makes you anxious. Wow, what's an insight! Walking in the nature, reading, spending time with ones you love makes you less anxious. Wow, even more insightful!

Literary essay-like style is beautiful at certain times, but mostly annoying with many lists and short sentences to prove the point.