Reasons to stay alive (2015)

The easiest place to start, and a book worth passing on to a friend who is struggling. Matt Haig describes the depression and anxiety that floored him at 24 without dressing it up, then shows the slow, unglamorous climb back out. It comes in short chapters and lists, so it suits a reader whose concentration has gone, and it speaks just as clearly to the partner or friend who wants to understand what is happening inside someone they love. A 10th anniversary edition with a new introduction came out in 2025.