Turtles All the Way Down: The Inner Workings of the Anxious Mind

By Max Miller-

John Green, the author we all know and love for The Fault in Our Stars, comes back after a five-year hiatus from novel writing to bring us Turtles All the Way Down, an eloquently written book modeled after Green’s struggles with mental illness, specifically anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 

The book tells the story of Aza, a sixteen-year-old living with multiple anxiety disorders. When her friend’s billionaire father goes missing, Aza and her best friend, Daisy, investigate where the mysterious business tycoon disappeared.

The portrayal of mental illness in this novel is one of the focal points that have enthralled readers worldwide. The way Aza’s thought spirals and tics are depicted are modeled after Green’s own struggles with anxiety and OCD. 

Green’s mental illness began manifesting itself when he was just six years old: Green believed that his food was contaminated and would therefore only eat specific foods at certain times during the day. “I couldn’t escape the spiral of my thoughts, and I felt like they were coming from the outside,” Mr. Green said in an interview with the New York Times in October 2017. As Green aged, he was able to keep his mental health in check using a combination of medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy, yet he was still periodically controlled by a whirlwind of anxious thoughts. 

Today, however, Green is very public about his struggles, both through his writing and online presence.

During a particularly helpless moment, Aza pleads with her own mind: “Please let me go. I’ll do anything. I’ll stand down.” The glimpse Turtles All the Way Down gives into the mind of an anxious person, although occasionally triggering, is not something to miss. Perhaps this is why the novel has won so many awards: Turtles All the Way Down has been a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and International Bestseller; it has also been a Time, Chicago Public Library, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble Best Book of the Year. Its prestige makes sense: The book's realistic depiction of the inner workings of the anxious mind through Aza’s narration, although occasionally triggering to those with anxiety, has a certain element to it that is just so captivating. I highly recommend it.

Right, the cover of Turtles All the Way Down and author John Green. (Mashable Composite, Getty/Penguin Random House)