{'type': 'paragraph', 'text': 'Author Matt Haig spoke about a past mental-health crisis during an appearance on BBC’s Desert Island Discs. He recalled that Andrea recognised how serious his condition had become, helped get him to hospital and persuaded him to accept medical care.'}
{'type': 'paragraph', 'text': 'Haig said he experienced tightness in his chest and a racing heart, alongside episodes of derealisation in which the world felt unreal and he struggled to recognise himself in the mirror. He described being convinced he would not live beyond 25. After reaching 26, he said, he could see that the certainty he had felt during depression had been wrong.'}
{'type': 'paragraph', 'text': 'He also said an encounter with a doctor intensified his reluctance to seek help. When the GP asked whether he had used recreational drugs, Haig felt he was being morally judged. He said that experience made him fearful of getting help and that he went 20 years without therapeutic support.'}
{'type': 'paragraph', 'text': 'The account was shared in a radio interview about his personal experiences. Haig reflected that, with time, people can recognise that depression may make hopeless predictions feel certain even when they do not come true. His first novel, The Last Family in England, was published in 2004; later books include The Radleys (2010), How to Stop Time (2017) and The Midnight Train (2026).'}