You Will Get Through This Night is a practical guide to mental health by Daniel Howell, and is Kiyo Mizuki’s LitStack Rec.
What does it mean to hit rock bottom emotionally, and how do you pick yourself up and try again? Sometimes it’s not a clear path. Actually, most of the time it’s not. Thoughts can be a lot, and with something as complex as a depressive disorder, the hopelessness can get a lot more intense and quickly, too. While I’m rarely the person to say, “Read this book, it will fix you,” I have enough sense to say, “Here’s a book that’s fairly useful and teaches helpful skills.” It won’t “fix” you, but it just might come in handy the next time you feel like your world is burning down around you.
In This LitStack Rec of You Will Get Through This Night
You can find and buy the books we recommend at the LitStack Bookshop on our list of LitStack Recs.
A Mental Health Game Changer
Perhaps I am a tad biased as someone who has followed this writer for his work as a comedian, but I found British YouTuber Daniel Howell’s You Will Get Through This Night (2021) humorous and useful for my own life. His following is mostly Millennials and Gen Zers. If you experience anxiety or if you struggle at all with mental health (especially in these trying times), this book could be your “game changer.” Not exactly a solution, but more, it teaches reliable and insightful skills to fall back on. Having read it myself, I think that this book could change someone’s trajectory if they find themselves at a low point.
You Will Get Through This Night begins:
“Mental health is something we all have. Whether you know you’re going through a tough time, or feel like you are fine—it’s always there, invisible, but influencing what you feel, how you react. Sometimes it can feel like a fog you’re powerless to navigate through, but that’s not true. You can be your own light.” ~Daniel Howell
A Groundbreaking YouTuber Opens Up About Depression
For those not chronically online or not one of his six million subscribers, Daniel Howell is a YouTuber, comedian, and writer based in the UK who is best known for his world tour comedy show, We’re All Doomed, as well as his creative collaboration with his partner, Phil Lester, who together are known as “Dan and Phil.” The pair is credited for being one of the first, if not the first, YouTubers to begin doing live touring performances back in 2015.
Dan’s videos and sense of humor were always labeled as “dark,” and while he’s become known for this persona, by writing this book and creating the Doomed tour, he’s opened up about his struggles with depression.
The hard part about reading, or starting to read, a so-called “self-help book” is that sometimes you want an immediate solution to all your life’s problems, or alternatively, maybe you think you don’t need one at all. It all depends on your own life circumstances, but if you’re open to sitting down and exploring someone else’s experience, you might learn at least one new bit of information or a skill to help you in the long game. And isn’t that worth it? It was for me!
A Relatable Story of Struggle
You Will Get Through This Night takes an interesting approach that I’ve not seen in other books. I’ve sought the insights they offer. Written in consultation with a qualified psychologist, Dan’s book uses comedy to lighten the mood, telling jokes about his own mistakes and fumbles in daily life. He makes this book relatable, not something that talks down to you about your struggles. He understands what you are going through. And as parasocial as that is, it helps.
Dan begins to explain his own circumstances conversationally, establishing the humorous tone:
“I hadn’t accounted for the rainbow elephant in the room that I’d have to address one day, and that is, I stumbled into a ‘public career,’ suddenly other people would say ‘hi, what’s with that giant elephant you’re clearly ignoring?”
This Night, Tomorrow, and The Days After That
Dan crafted You Will Get Through This Night into three sections: “This Night,” “Tomorrow,” and “The Days After That.”
The first part of the book, “This Night,” is for when you need to take immediate action (no matter how small a step) to change your frame of mind. It is for when you need to use a skill (which this section teaches) to calm down from a negative reaction of some kind.
The second part “Tomorrow” is for when you feel more stable and can make changes to your life and the world around you. Once you have a handle on some of the immediate issues, this part of the book explains aspects of life that can impact mental health, like your environment and sleeping.
Finally, the last section of the book “The Days After That,” and the one I personally used most, is the section that asks you to look deeper and expands on the previous sections. This section is the “Take what you learned and apply further!” section if you want a TL; DR. If all my textbooks for university were written like this, I think the world would be a much better place.
Rewriting Your Life in a Judgement-Free Zone
You Will Get Through This Night speaks directly to its reader, guiding you through strategies for approaches you can take in the moment. Daniel explains what you can do when you feel ready to try and expand your life, guiding you through techniques to help in the moment, and what to do once you are stable and ready enough to try to make bigger changes and take a look inside yourself.
I myself found the section on breaking negative thought patterns helpful (I remember laughing when Dan referred to it as “being aware of the simulation”).
Because of this book and its personal nature, I was able to learn and try the skill of rewriting my thoughts and expectations in a judgment-free zone. So, while Dan always reiterates that this book could and would never replace professional help from a licensed therapist or psychiatrist, it can draw your attention to aspects of your life you may not have noticed.
In the end, you can choose to put the book down at any moment. But you can also choose to pick it up and use the skills within at any moment. You Will Get Through This Night is not only a good read, but offers, as Hypable says, “…something for anyone who might be looking to do a bit of self-reflection on how they can better their minds.”
If you already know the information, good for you. If you don’t, you’ll learn something of value while being treated to a lot of great Dan Howell anecdotes and getting to know the personal story of this great performer. Hear a sample of Dan reading his audiobook of You Will Get Through This Night on Soundcloud here.
~Kiyo Mizuki
About Daniel Howell
Daniel Howell is an award-winning British entertainer and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Originally gaining global prominence as a YouTube creator with over one billion views, he later transitioned into radio and literature.
His 2021 nonfiction debut, You Will Get Through This Night, was written in consultation with a qualified psychologist. The book serves as a practical, no-nonsense mental health guide, utilizing Howell’s signature self-deprecating humor to demystify complex psychological concepts. It is structured into three stages—addressing immediate crises, daily habits, and long-term growth—to help readers understand their minds and find hope during difficult times.
In addition to his solo mental health guide, Daniel Howell has co-authored two major bestsellers with his long-time creative partner, Phil Lester. The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire, The World of Dan and Phil, a colorful, autobiographical look into their lives as YouTube creators, featuring stories, photos, and behind-the-scenes trivia. Dan and Phil Go Outside, a photo-journal style book documenting their adventures and real-life experiences during their first world tour, The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire.
You can connect with Dan on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
Other Titles LitStack Recommends
Here are a few similar titles LitStack recommends, including The Hidden Power of F*cking Up by The Try Guys, Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart, and Binge by Tyler Oakley
Other LitStack Resources
LitStack Spotlights
Be sure and check out LitStack Spotlights that shine a light on books we think you should read. We feature two books each week in our LitStack Spotlight, and offer suggestions for similar titles in our LitStack Spots.
LitStack Reviews
Also look at our LitStack Reviews, including reviews by Lewis Buzbee, Lauren Alwan, Allie Coker, Rylie Fong, and Sharon Browning.
LitStack Recs
Each week we offer a LitStack Rec, sometimes two books at once, sometimes more. Be sure and look at our LitStack Recs where you’ll find what you should read next.
You can find and buy the books we recommend at the LitStack Bookshop on our list of LitStack Recs.
Author
Comment Using Emote
As a Bookshop, Malaprop’s, BAM, Barnes & Noble, Audiobooks.com, Amazon, and Envato affiliate, LitStack may earn a commission at no cost to you when you purchase products through our affiliate links.
