Notes on a Nervous Planet

Looking at sleep, news, social media, addiction, work, and play, Matt Haig invites us to feel calmer, and happier and to question the habits of the digital age. This book might even change the way you spend your precious time on earth.

The world is messing with our minds.  Rates of stress and anxiety are rising. A fast, nervous planet is creating fast and nervous lives. We are more connected, yet feel more alone. And we are encouraged to worry about everything from world politics to our body mass index.  How can we stay sane on a planet that makes us mad?  How do we stay human in a technological world?  How do we feel happy when we are encouraged to be anxious?

The societies we live in are increasingly making our minds ill, making it feel as though the way we live is engineered to make us unhappy. When Matt Haig developed panic disorder, anxiety, and depression as an adult, it took him a long time to work out the ways the external world could impact his mental health in both positive and negative ways. Notes on a Nervous Planet collects his observations, taking a look at how the various social, commercial, and technological “advancements” that have created the world we now live in can actually hinder our happiness.