Lost Connections - The Real Causes of Depression and Unexpected Solutions

“In my own life, I believed two stories about depression. For the first eighteen years of my life, I thought it was ‘all in my head’ – meaning it wasn’t real, it was a fantasy, it was fake, it was arrogant, it was shameful, it was weak. For the next thirteen years, I believed it was ‘all in my head’ again, but this time in a very different way: it was caused by a malfunction in the brain. But I was to learn that neither story was true. The primary reason depression and anxiety were so prevalent wasn’t in our heads. I discovered that much of it was in the world around us and how we lived in it.”

Lost Connections tells the story of journalist and author Johann Hari's journey to find the underlying causes and possible solutions to depression, which he himself has struggled with for many years. This story, which is both personal and social, based on scientific facts and research as well as experience, shows that instead of accepting our unhappiness and trying to suppress it with drugs, we can turn to more permanent, more healing solutions.

“I know that reading about the causes of depression and anxiety can be daunting at first, because they run so deep into our culture. I was intimidated, too. But as I continued on my journey, I realized what lay on the other side: real solutions. They’re not like the chemical antidepressants that don’t work for most of us. They’re not things you buy or swallow. But they can be the starting point for a real way out of our suffering.”