PENGUIN Notes on a Nervous Planet

I really enjoy Matt Haig’s books and looked forward to reading Notes On A Nervous Planet. A kind of follow on from Reasons to Stay Alive, it looks at how to stay sane in an ever increasingly crazy, technological world. How our addiction to modern technology is making us anxious and affecting the quality of life we lead. There is a lot I agree with in this book, we spend too much time on computers and mobile phones (slightly ironic since I am writing this review), spend too much money on ‘stuff’ we don’t really need, spend too much time on social media, compare ourselves to others (enhanced digital retouched photos) which is totally unrealistic, spend too much time at work, we chase bigger and better goals, the latest holiday, a new car, a bigger house but for what? We are being propelled towards being a species of stressed and anxious humans but why? We are losing what it means to be human.Matt looks at everyday life, spending too much time on our phones, binge watching box sets on Netflix. His book is a thought-provoking insight into life in 2018. He is not anti-technology but looks at the ways in which it is harming us as a species and how we need, collectively to look at how we need to address this and change our behaviours.I like how Matt writes, he is honest in his approach, which is personal and informative and deals with relevant issues of the times. I hope he reads this review, and it makes him happy rather than anxious and stressed. A good read, would recommend.

I've never written an Amazon review before, but this book compelled me to do it. I was expecting a book with a strong aim at dealing with the complexity of this world. Although some of it addresses this subject, the vast majority is the author letting the world know all the mental diseases that he thinks he has. It starts with depression, then it moves to anxiety, panic attacks, OCD and agoraphobia. As a Pharmacist, and somebody who deals with some of these subjects on a daily basis, I can say that a lot of it seems meant to give the author more credibility in talking about these subjects (for example, "compulsive swallowing" as a justification to self-diagnosing OCD). It seems that the author has a real worry to address mental-health problems on a transparent level, but then irresponsibly simplifies and objectifies these subjects, leaving, once more, the patients that are really ill alone and unable to seek help in a world where every single person/celebrity, for the sake of some headlines, tweets and likes, deals with depression, anxiety and OCD.

I read this whilst on holiday in Spain... Surrounded by Spanish teens and young couples walking in the sea holding their phones, taking selfies whilst treading water in the sea, kids on phones whilst out to dinner with their parents, under 8s watching iPad on a beautiful beach, parents checking phones on the beach.... It was nuts. A great read. Very true. A must read for me especially who is on social media a lot.

I found Matt's previous book on Depression (Reasons to Stay Alive) such an invaluable resource - I truly believe it should be given free on the NHS to every depressed patient in the country. And now with this latest tome he's doing the same for anxiety - a brill book for dipping in and out of, always something useful to read. No nonsense common sense with a good side order of good humour.

Was recommended this book plenty of times due to others I had read. Thought having this as a read for being quarantined would make sense, considering the planet is a nervous wreck right now.The book size is perfect, and the cover is very pretty. I did quite like the broken up chapters, easy to pick up and put down again.Sadly, if you're looking for something deep, or though provoking or maybe even something to change your life, this isn't it. It will look good on you bookshelf, but the content isn't worth it.Reading it felt very surface level. The basic information we all already know (Avoid Internet, practise yoga, sleep more etc). Sadly the writer, has written nothing new or even helpful. It even appeared that he hasn't figured out the content of this book himself, and has written more slight musings and keeps referring to his previous book (which disjoints the reader if they haven't read any of his other work).I understand from his writing that bad reviews are hard to read, but unfortunately it's necessary to make sure that anyone buying this book has their hopes at a reasonable level when buying.Glad I bought second hand.Maybe this book would be good for someone taking the first dive into ever reading about mental health, just to test the waters, but sadly added up to nothing more. I couldn't fully finish it.