In the novel It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, fifteen-year-old Craig Gilner meets himself in a ditch with depression. When the decision on ending his life comes around, he ends up in the adult psychiatric unit in a brooklyn hospital. He meet several patients in which he can talk about his anxiety.

Craig is a freshman at one of the best high schools in Manhattan. Though craig obsessively studied for the test to get into the school, and even got a perfect score, has been letting his school work slide since the first day. Craig has opened up to his parents about his depression, but not his friends. His parents support him as he gets a long string of therapists and anti-depressants, but he doesn't seem to feel a release from his problems.

As Craig keeps hoping for the anxiety to flee, he sinks further in his despair. He decides to jump off the brooklyn bridge. As craig is about to jump, he feels his heartbeat through his whole entire body, and know that he still wants to live. This leads to a call with a suicide hotline. They tell him to go to an emergency room, and he takes their advice.

When the doctors assess him, they conclude that it would be best for him to stay a few nights. They explain that the adolescent unit is being remodeled, so he must stay in the adult unit. In the unit, Craig meets many people, one in particular, Noelle. She’s the same age as Craig, and she dismantled her face by cutting it.

As the days go on, Craig finds himself eating normal again, and even feeling a little joy. On his free time he would draw maps, a hobby he enjoyed as a kid. As he draws he finds a way to put a map together to represent his brain. With this map, Craig is able to continue to beat his depression.

At the end of the book, Craig and Noelle are romantically involved. Craig looks around and sees that his friends are hurting him mentally. When craig is released, he realizes that life is not just constant academics, but an art, so he looks to transfer schools. As craig really opens his eyes he can see everything that he wants to do in his life, and that living is one of them.