Matt Haig

[headfullofdreams]

I feel bad for disliking someone who is such a big advocate of mental health, but I really find him quite tiresome now. I've had to mute him on Twitter because his philosophical tweets appear on my timeline so much (I don't follow him, but apparently because someone I follow liked one of his tweets, then the stupid algorithm pushes them on me. I hate Twitter sometimes). I read one of his books and it droned on far too much. It was full of tedious anecdotes and meandering observations, I took very little from it.

 

[schmetterling]

He's actually losing his shit in about ten days because this thread has become more active I absolutely LOVE to see it. Seriously though he has a shit tonne of money from the Crapitutes (vol. I - ∞), why would he not want to learn more about this 'subject' he's so passionate about? If I was a 'writer' about dealing with common mental health issues I might take a short level 2 counselling course or something so I could be a better advocate. Or learn about eating disorders, personality disorders, psychosis, comorbidity, dual diagnoses.

But I guess that would take longer than writing 'the universe is a pitta bread. Hot on the inside, steam waiting to burst out and envelope you and your velvety hummus blanket of safety' and then having to change your pants coz your genius made you spaff yourself again

 

[kachoochoo]

hello. just thought I'd resurrect this thread cos our king of mental health has had a bit of a chaos (copyright jack monroe) today

so this small account had a bit of a joke at his expense. you will note they don't tag him

matt then QTed to instigate pile on, unfortunately now deleted.

then this other smallish account had a pop, again, Matt is not tagged

then there's this from the second account here with Matt's reply

lovely stuff from our patron saint of be kind, who just happens to have made mountains of cash off the back of mental illness

anyhoo, now he promises, so

incidentally, I don't dispute his backstory, but I do take exception to his bland, white man, palatable takes and I regret ever buying his boring books

 

[Into_the_tunnel]

I volunteer in a charity shop.

In the same way that I hide all MH books in every bookshop I go into, when a MH book comes in (every shift I work) I put it at the bottom of the “books to go out on the shelf pile”.

If I come in and someone has put one of his books on the shelf I replace it with a John Grisham.

I love working there. Doing good work three times a week.

 

[LavaFlake]

Saw this on my Twitter. The accuracy

 

[Jelly Bean]

Oh my god I've found my people. I found Haigs writing after I was sexually assaulted and was going through hell, I ended up buying tickets to his book tour to ask a question about a passage on anxiety that I didn't really understand and wanted some clarity. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about, and he laughed at me. I pointed out the chapter and page number and then he gave me some bogus answer about loving your body and going to the beach (I asked about every day anxiety!) and made me feel humiliated. I was so desperate to know how to cope with my sexual assault anxiety and this dude told me to love my beach body. A lady behind me asked for advice re her suicidal teenage son, Matt said to "Google some resources". He acts like he is the founding father of MH but I truly don't think he gets it. I was crushed and chucked my book in the bin at the end.

The trouble is he acts and talks like some MH guru. 'Trust me! Buy my book and it will provide answers'. Yet when tied to specifics sort of shrugs his shoulders and says 'Don't ask me. It's just a book of my opinions'. He wants it all ways.
I really think he is quite dangerous tbh.

 

[Octopies]

New to thread
Someone I enjoy following on Twitter posted about him offending her with the use of the word ‘psychotic’ this is her (more recent) tweet and she’s also tweeted screen shots of what he said, I think it was all deleted. I think this was briefly mentioned in earlier pages of the thread but screenshots not shared.

 

[Into_the_tunnel]

I loathe the man, but feel uncomfortable with mocking an episode of severe distress.

I agree. However a couple of days ago he posted this.

I think this kind of thing just shows how separated he is from some people who truly are at rock bottom.

I don’t want to go into a rant that I have to put behind a spoiler or talk about the different kinds of disorder where you can’t look forward or back from your current situation or where you globalise everything to the nth degree. But when I read this seemingly good-meaning post, telling people to imagine themselves when things were good and to wait until they are good again all my sympathy for him went out of the window.

 

[hollowcrown]

How can one bloke be such a "hun". Ooh cheeky wine. Love a gin and tonic in the garden. Middle class wanker.

If this is what "a man being in touch with your own mental health" is promoted as by the media then no wonder blokes have such problems expressing themselves.

 

[Into_the_tunnel]

Does he really think the whole of Italy is like the Amalfi Coast?

He lives in Brighton, in one of the most affluent areas of the U.K. and he has the fucking nerve to say that we as a country would want to move to Italy as though it is a homogeneous area of outstanding national beauty

No Matt, there are really deprived areas of Italy, just as there are beautiful and outstanding areas in England (you live in one of them ffs).

Stop being a privileged twat. Own your privilege and fuck off.

(I haven’t expressed what I want to say very well. In a word I think it he is being really offensive to the Italians, to people who live in areas that may not be as pretty and affluent as he would like (Grimsby and Stevenage for example) and just anyone actually- he is pissing me off.

 

[Vanelope]

Oh my god I've found my people. I found Haigs writing after I was sexually assaulted and was going through hell, I ended up buying tickets to his book tour to ask a question about a passage on anxiety that I didn't really understand and wanted some clarity. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about, and he laughed at me. I pointed out the chapter and page number and then he gave me some bogus answer about loving your body and going to the beach (I asked about every day anxiety!) and made me feel humiliated. I was so desperate to know how to cope with my sexual assault anxiety and this dude told me to love my beach body. A lady behind me asked for advice re her suicidal teenage son, Matt said to "Google some resources". He acts like he is the founding father of MH but I truly don't think he gets it. I was crushed and chucked my book in the bin at the end.

I’m so sorry he let you down like that. He’s a vulture on mental health and uses it for his own enrichment.

 

[kitsybalfour]

Thank God for this thread. You are my people.
I feel for the poster above who caught her husband reading a Matt Haig book. I think I’d rather catch my husband having a wank over an Amanda Holden picture than catch him reading the Midnight Library.
The problem is people I know and love keep recommending his books to me. Not a month goes by without saying “Kitsy you’d love him. It’s right up your street!”
What can this mean. It’s depressing.
Anyway nice to have found you all.

 

[hereforthereceipts]

Haig claims to get hate because people don’t like Stoic attitudes but then writes a book called Comforts, rants in public about how much the opinions of other people bother him, and claims Ferris Bueller teaches a Stoic lesson because of some thin Marcus Aurelius quote on beauty?

A real Stoic would read in the first paragraph of Epictetus’s Handbook that your reputation is something outside of your control so it should have nothing to do with your happiness. If he read further, he’d know when you’re claiming to be a philosopher, you should expect people to ridicule you and you should come back with, “Why go so easy on me? I also cherry-pick relatable mental illnesses and hide behind my wife, don’t you know?”

A real Stoic wouldn’t fill a book called Comforts with things like pasta and pizza. These are external things and not in our control. Real Stoic comforts are things like choosing wisely, being kind, not letting anyone get inside your head, and knowing that you’re free in your mind no matter what is happening around you. It’s a philosophy that best serves people in rough conditions — how to hold on to what you can control when the situation around you isn’t great. It got me through early psychosis, but that’s not too relatable. Not many psych wards have great pizza ovens.

Nothing wrong with pizza and pasta, but that’s not Stoicism. Or Buddhism. Or Taoism. Maybe Epicureanism, but they would be more likely to focus on friendships and good conversation and remembering happier times — things almost anyone can find. They wouldn’t tell you that you only have today to steal your dad’s car.

I agree with an earlier comment here. I think he’s just a bit thick and wrote a relatable memoir at an opportune time. If he had any balls as a philosopher or guru, that opinion wouldn’t make him see red all over Twitter.

 

[hollowcrown]

His brand of mental illness awareness/treatment boils down to "Think nice thoughts and it will be okay" which is honestly just insulting. It's the middle class HR department mental health awareness type thing. Even if he had problems in the past I can't help but think from his Twitter feed he has no actual real life problems (living in a nice house with kids and his wife) and thinking of these stupid little quotes all day like it's going to save someone's life. I am sure they have made some kind of positive impact probably but most of what he writes is not going to be much comfort to someone on the breadline, struggling to make ends meet, with dependents in their life.

 

[Calabria]

I’ve been talking to a guy recently who I was starting to like, then he sent me several Matt Haig quotes and now I’ve got the ick big time

 

[kachoochoo]

he's had a grunk then.

seriously, I think the majority of us on this thread are living proof that cynicism is absolutely NOT the luxury of the well

honestly, fuck all the way off. cynicism gets me through the day sometimes. I've been to the edge and ghost stories are my comfort reading!

we are all different you absolute clown! count your money and let us carry on taking the piss in peace, thx luv

 

[kachoochoo]

a reader (not criticising them at all) has tweeted they enjoy flicking around to find random pages and this has apparently resonated particularly well today. it's called room and barely mentions a room?!

this book has an rrp of £16.99

Room (kachoochoo's version)

imagine you are in a room. it has four walls. maybe more, if you have alcoves and stuff, I dunno. don't get lost in the alcoves of your mind. open a window. a window into your soul. imagine your current account flooding in money. just imagine. read some winnie the pooh. whatever

 

[FrannyGallops]

I have a feeling he didn’t go to therapy. He wouldn’t even take anti depressants and I gave up on How To Stay Alive because he seemed quite anti them. He reminds a bit of Jack Monroe who was on benefits once for 5 minutes and has been dining out on it ever since. He was depressed for a period 15 years ago and has made a cottage industry out of it. From the excerpts I’ve read on here, his ‘Comfort Book’ might help someone who feels a bit down now and again, but if you’re seriously, mentally unwell, there’s a chance it could make you feel worse. It’s a physical manifestation of a Pinterest inspirational quotes board and the poster who said he’s the equivalent of ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ got it spot on. I mean, I have a friend who’s bipolar. Telling her she can get through that by not relying on tablets and eating pasta because life’s too short just wouldn’t work (also just as an aside, she had to beg her dr for therapy, and had to wait for about two years. In the end she got a whopping 6 sessions of CBT).

ETA; I’ve just seen upthread he has admitted he hasn’t had therapy, which doesn’t surprise me in the least and makes me think he should STFU even more.

 

[Into_the_tunnel]

(Back from holiday and Olympics)

One not so beautiful thing (tunnel’s version)

Experience one (not so) beautiful thing a day. Wake up with a furry tongue because you ate too many Pringles the night before. Leave your shoes outside overnight and allow them to get soaking wet and stinky. Only have one slightly-too-ripe banana left for breakfast. Take the dog for a walk but forget the poo bags. Whatever. Give yourself that one reminder that the world is sometimes out to get you. Even if we want to appreciate things, having to pick up dog poo using a sandwich wrapper from a nearby bin will quickly thump you back to your pebbly Brighton Earth.

Running through an injury is a fucking stupid thing to do. Run through an injury and you can cause further injury and lasting health problems. How's your mental health going to turn out when you are limping up the stairs for the rest of your life and can't walk further than half an hour without being in pain.

I’ve just seen this and I am fuming. Long me-rail incoming.

Spoiler: Me-rail and ED

I used to run obsessively. I once ran a 35 mile ultra with no food during or after and then ran 10 miles the next day. (I started running 22 years ago for mental health btw). This obsession resulted in one eating disorder and a horrendous injury that cost me ££££ to fix. Now, 5 years later I am deep in the middle of another ED and am trying to learn to run in a way that does not lead to obsession.

To admit all this has taken years. But he is a weapon. This has me in tears. I used to forgo everything to run because I thought it would heal everything but it has broken everything. He has no idea. No idea about binge purge ed, no idea about how it links to depression and anxiety and he is encouraging people to exercise through injury. I follow people who are trying to make a difference on IG who are in danger of being deleted for naked posts and his tripe is being allowed? I am beyond incredulous.

 

[Into_the_tunnel]

Reading here Matt?

Go for a walk on your pebbly beach instead and look at your million pound pastel-coloured houses.

No one ever dismissed your depression or anxiety. We dismiss your writing, your repetitive, self-indulgent tweets and your complete failure to acknowledge your own privilege.