Book Review: Happy Anyway by Jane Hanford*

Happy Anyway by Jane Hanford

[Ad-gifted] Happy Anyway is a practical guide to achieving good mental health, written and published by psychologist Jane Hanford. The book contains 40 short insights into how your mind works, and simple practices that will change the way you think, helping you to gain control of your anxiety and be happy anyway.

Intended for young people, but applicable to any audience, Jane’s book stems from her personal experiences of anxiety, but also her optimism that she could do something to help herself feel better. This led her to study psychology and gain a full understanding of its key lessons. She combines some of the older techniques and practices with modern ideas relevant to our current state of mental health.

The book is free from scientific or health jargon and, rather than academic references, contains suggestions of writers, subjects or psychological theories for the reader to look up if they would like more information. It is laid out in sections, with specific titles to help the reader on their own journey – for example, towards ‘Finding stability’; ‘Getting through the hard times’ or ‘Creating a happy life’. Each section contains short lessons, which the author suggests spending some time reflecting upon. The lessons can be read through in a sequence, chosen by title from the contents or dipped into at random.

What is important, says Jane, is that we start out on the journey to greater self-awareness and happiness, rather than worrying about the destination. To quote the book “Dropping off the path is inevitable. Getting back on the path is everything. Don’t give up. Don’t go back. Stay on the path.”

What I thought of Happy Anyway

In the 21st century – and this last year in particular – good mental health has become a focus for health & charitable organisations, communities and each of us as individuals. Although education, resources and access to support could all be greatly improved, vital conversations are beginning and some of the stigmas around related issues are being gently challenged.

Working in a secondary school, I’ve seen many books, websites, study programmes and other approaches to discussing these issues, with varying degrees of success. I was very interested to read ‘Happy Anyway’ and see what it would add to the toolkit of support that I can offer students.

The main feature which would recommend this book to any reader is that it is extremely accessible. It achieves this in a number of ways. Firstly, each of the lessons in the book is short and intended to have a high impact. The names of the lessons seem to encourage us to question ourselves  – ‘Do I have a need to always be in control – why?’ ‘How do I deal with difficult emotions – can I get better at that?’ and so on. This allows us to begin thinking about the issues raised, even before we start reading the lessons.

Secondly, the book offers a good balance of short term responses to immediately challenging situations which we might find ourselves in and longer-term techniques which we can develop to build our resilience and responses to anxiety. These also strike a good balance between physical steps that we can actually take straight away and ‘thinking tasks’ which require more reflection.

I was extremely impressed that none of these responses requires any fancy, expensive equipment or complex health and psychology knowledge. Instead, the author pitches the book perfectly at her young adult readership. She offers clear, detailed advice on how to begin to take control of your breathing and your mind, as important steps towards learning the lesson addressed by each section of the book. She then develops this with information about controlling emotions, meditating and other techniques.

As anyone who has attempted to help a teenager will know, nothing is more likely to make them defensive than telling them to do something without explaining to them why it might be a good idea. Jane Hanford avoids patronising her readers in this way, by accompanying her advice on how to take control with some of the reasons why we might need to do so. Some of these may stem from reactions to our earlier lives, some from our current levels of self-esteem and some from the ideas of people around us. Jane manages to discuss all of these topics openly but with sensitivity encourages the reader to think seriously about their own situation and draw their own conclusions about their behaviour. I feel that teenagers and young people will appreciate this approach, as their maturity and strength of character is acknowledged and encouraged through the writing.

I would definitely recommend Happy Anyway to a mature teenager or any adult who is struggling with anxiety in any form. The book is challenging, as it asks the reader to think deeply about, and take responsibility for, their emotions. However, it is a valuable addition to resources to encourage good mental health and will make a hugely positive difference to any reader who is prepared to go on the journey that the book offers.

How much is Happy Anyway and how can you buy it?

Happy Anyway is written and published by Jane Hanford. The paperback version costs £8.99 and the Kindle version £4.99 and both can be purchased via this link.

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About the author

Jane Hanford holds a Masters in Coaching Psychology. Her work in this field has shown her that struggles with anxiety are almost universal, even within the apparently most successful people. Combining her education and her learnings within Buddhist Psychology have allowed her to combine ideas and practices from the East and West. She feels that ‘Happy Anyway’ is the book she was supposed to write, for the young person that she was and in service of young people everywhere.

About the book

Title: Happy Anyway
Author: Jane Hanford
Publisher: Jane Hanford
ISBN: 978-1838090333
Trim Size: 127 x 203mm
Pages: 168

Review by Sharon Corbally

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