Matt Haig discusses mental health breakdown and struggle to seek help

Author Matt Haig has shared details regarding a mental health breakdown he experienced in his early 20s while living in Ibiza with his then-girlfriend, Andrea Semple. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Haig described the experience as a continuous panic attack that left him feeling suicidal, though he clarified he did not have a death wish but rather felt unable to cope with reality.

Haig noted that he experienced symptoms of agoraphobia and derealisation, feeling as though the world was not real. He recounted a difficult encounter with a GP, stating that after admitting to past recreational drug use, he felt met with moral judgment and was not offered therapy. Due to financial constraints and a newfound phobia of seeking help following that medical encounter, Haig stated he went 20 years without therapeutic support.