Lost Connections

Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions

By: Johann Hari

Narrated by: Johann Hari

From the New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream, a radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety.

What really causes depression and anxiety - and how can we really solve them? Award-winning journalist Johann Hari suffered from depression since he was a child and started taking antidepressants when he was a teenager. He was told that his problems were caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain. As an adult, trained in the social sciences, he began to investigate whether this was true - and he learned that almost everything we have been told about depression and anxiety is wrong.

Across the world, Hari found social scientists who were uncovering evidence that depression and anxiety are not caused by a chemical imbalance in our brains. In fact, they are largely caused by key problems with the way we live today. Hari's journey took him from a mind-blowing series of experiments in Baltimore, to an Amish community in Indiana, to an uprising in Berlin.

Once he had uncovered nine real causes of depression and anxiety, they led him to scientists who are discovering seven very different solutions - ones that work. It is an epic journey that will change how we think about one of the biggest crises in our culture today.

©2018 Johann Hari (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

A Magnificent Book by a Magnificent Author

This book and Hari's other work, "Chasing the Scream", are tremendous. They are highly compelling, a sheer joy to listen to, and totally unlike any other book in their respective genre/subject. While I wasn't necessarily interested in depression going in to this, Hari's storytelling ability and the fascinating research made this one for the ages.

I highly recommend it.

Great info. "You need your nausea"

Lots of great info here on the social and psychological causes of depression and anxiety. The meta-analysis of antidepressant studies was really valuable and persuasive, but the most important lesson here is that "Depression is a normal response to an abnormal life event."
Johann Hari makes his points through narrative, which typically bugs me, but I found the affect really helpful for actually absorbing the info here. My only complaint is that Hari's narration is really on point for a book on depression, so I had to take the book in small doses.

This should be a mandatory reading for everyone

understanding the underlying causes of depression and addiction will change your perception of people completely forever.

Very useful and insightful

I loved the book. However, I thought the author's use of stories was sometimes a bit much. He would occasionally start with a statement like "And the other option is better", but then goes off on a 10 minute long story that ends with that option. I wish he got to the point more often. Besides that, everything else was great; the book used a lot of experts and studies as references which compensates for the fact that the author is a journalist and not a psychologist, and the narrator did his job well.
loved the book.

Gem Of A Read!

This book is absolutely wonderful. I wish I could hand out a copy to every person I know, especially patients who I know who suffer from depression and anxiety. As an FNP I was constantly frustrated at our medical system set-up in the US. A patient with obvious signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety would open-up to me. I would try to get them connected with a psychologist...always to be booked out 6-8 weeks out. So I found myself ordering anti-depressants, only having 10 minutes to listen to their concerns, and come up with a plan of action they can try before their next follow up visit with me, which my schedule was booked out at least 4 weeks. What a failure of a system! This book is able to spell-out the complexities of depression and anxiety. As well, this book offers evidence based solutions that have worked. It’s easy to understand, which I love, because then a broad audience can understand the subject matter. The facts are: many clinicians are placed under time constraints and so cannot meet the subjective needs of many patients who require 45 minute sessions. I currently function as an RN at a level 2 trauma center. So many patients have anxiety and depression. By the time these people are in hospital, they tend to be in crisis mode: vulnerable, scared, some dying. This isn’t the time to go into all aspects of the book and trying to cure their depression and anxiety. Although, this book has given me the knowledge to know the little things I am doing for my patients who fall under this category are effective and meaningful. I see this in their responses towards me and now I know these things have an even deeper meaning for them. In addition, this book shows how placing importance on making societal changes that cater towards ameliorating depression has a profoundly positive effect on society and finances.

On a personal level, it seems this book offers direction and hope for every person out there who is a sufferer of depression and/or anxiety. It offers information in how they can try to take control in changing their lives. In addition, this book reminds the reader these changes have to be lifelong. There is no quick cure. And the seemingly quick cure that’s presented towards the end...still requires lifestyle changes in order to continue staving off the depression. I hope you will give this book a chance. If it doesn’t apply to you...there is someone who you may know who it does. And you can know how to have a positive impact in their life.