NOTES ON A NERVOUS PLANET

An anxiety-afflicted writer offers thoughtful tools for coping with our anxiety-provoking culture.

In this illuminating follow-up to his memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive, novelist and children’s author Haig (How to Stop Time, 2018, etc.) continues to explore how the rapid pace of our modern world can adversely affect our psyche. Early on, he asks, “how can we live in a mad world without ourselves going mad?” In bite-sized chapters, the author considers the various issues that plague us, including our increasing addiction to smartphones and social media, the emotional impact of absorbing 24-hour cycles of often grueling international news events, and our collective lack of sleep. Haig recalls his past anxiety attacks and prolonged bouts of serious depression, emotional episodes he addressed in his previous memoir, but here he reflects on the details as a launching pad for confronting these challenges. “In writing this book I have tried to look at the human psychological cost of the world by looking at the only psychology I truly know—my own,” he writes. “I have written about how we as individuals can try to stay sane within a maddening world. The fact that I have had mental illness, though a nightmare in reality, has educated me on the various triggers and torments of the modern world.” Haig’s solutions align with the current trend of mindfulness exercises—conscious breathing techniques, meditation, walks in nature, etc.—but he also expounds on the deeper benefits derived from reading good books and other activities. His prescription is to embrace the best of what modern culture has to offer and attempt to find balance rather than allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the increasing demands of so much social and technological stimuli. As he notes, “a completely connected world has the potential to go mad, all at once.”

A somewhat repetitive but often wise and inspiring self-help title strengthened by the author’s very personal experiences and acquired insight.