''Life and How To Survive It'' is a

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

book written by the therapist

Robin Skynner Robin Skynner (16 August 1922 in Cornwall–24 September 2000 in Islington, London) was a psychiatric pioneer and innovator in treating mental illness. As a young man during World War II, Skynner was a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who flew the ...

and the comedian

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

. The book is written in a question and answer form, with Cleese asking questions about relationships, and his therapist Skynner answering them. It is the sequel to ''

Families and How to Survive Them ''Families and How to Survive Them'' is a bestselling self-help book co-authored by the psychiatrist and psychotherapist Robin Skynner and the comedian John Cleese. It was first published in 1983, and is illustrated throughout by the cartoonist ...

''. The book aims to answer questions both psychologically and sociologically about why the world is the way it is and how this affects individuals. The narrative takes the reader on a journey into hidden consciousness and tries to explain why and how relationships do or do not work. Concepts such as the three parts of the human psyche (

Id, ego and super-ego The id, ego, and super-ego are a set of three concepts in psychoanalytic theory describing distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus (defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche). The three agents are theoretical const ...

) are explored. At one stage in the book, Skynner describes his experiences with

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

as part of a research project and the effect that they had on his subsequent consciousness, particularly in terms of understanding a spiritual dimension of life and the interconnectedness of all phenomena within it - a sense that echoes much of the descriptions of mystical experiences collated in William James's ''

Varieties of Religious Experience ''The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature'' is a book by Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James. It comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology, which were delivered at the University o ...

''.

References