Book Blurb - Notes On A Nervous Planet
Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
Exploring the overconnected nature of our world and it’s relationship to mental health
If you have read other books by Matt Haig, you know that his non-fiction books tend to take on the quality of quick chapters and bite sized concepts. This book is no different!
And it is this type of easy to consume ideas and pages that lends its self to mirroring the quick-consume-never-ending-scroll of social media and the internet. Which is of course apt as this book centers around the impact that the internet and quick media consumption has on the self and society.
Haig explores the changing of media consumption and the messages that are portrayed in a witty and approachable manner that makes you think critically about your own consumption - but not in a complete doom and gloom manner.
And it is his personal anecdotes that help bring the realness into the concepts. For instance, the act of doom scrolling before bed (getting lost in the social media or video feeds) and its impact on delaying sleep and possibly worsening anxiety - or FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Haig raises his hand to say he has struggled with it before and to say that his wife has to remind him to put the phone down and do something else. I mean how many of us have been there? Have been past bedtime and still staring at our little screens? Have been wrapped up in what someone thousands of kilometers away has said about something?
But what exactly can all of this impact? How exactly is the use of the phone/tablet/social media impacting our lives? According to Haig, these are just a few of the examples:
Poorer Health (decreased sleep, less time outdoors, increased sedentary behavior etc.)
Increased Mental Overload (it is impossible to take it all in and retain in!)
Poorer concentration and focus
Decreased Quality time with loved ones
Of course this list can go on, but I think to understand what he is saying, we need to take a step back and look at it from a larger perspective than just us.
In the last 100 years we have gone from only getting news in newspapers, on radios and in telegrams, to being able to receive play by play information of a violence being committed another continent in seconds. This means we are reacting much more quickly to things. That we are watching things unfold before having a journalist or organizing body look at and distill the information. We have gone from set tv time slots and only having the available print to millions of articles, books, and videos available at our fingers tips. But we, as people have not evolved. We have not suddenly developed the ability to read that much quicker or plug ourselves into a computer and receive its code. We are creating technology at a faster pace than we can adapt to it.
Myself, and Haig, will point out the wonderful benefits this technology has enabled us to do - like faster plane travel and increase crop yields to feed more people. But we would be remiss to not talk about the underbelly of all of those wonderful things. As the saying goes - there are two sides to every coin!
And maybe the edge of that coin is just the sliver of the impact it can have on our mental health. It is easier than ever to be overwhelmed by videos, messages, dings, pings, bright lights, music and stimuli. It is easier that ever to get your hands on things that will numb the uncomfortable sensations of this overload - alcohol, cannabis, doom scrolling.
SO not to scare you away or make you think you need to toss your phone and live in the woods, but this books does make you think, and although can be read fast paced, makes you think about slowing down a little - if even for your anxieties sake!
If you feel like you are really struggling with news, your phone, social media etc. - reach out. There are ways we can help you navigate this connected world, just a little easier.