Part 2 - Nine causes of anxiety and depression Well researched and argued, it was hard to disagree with any of what the author was saying and I was eager to get onto the next section. If they’re fixing brain chemicals, surely we shouldn't have to keep taking them again. If they work so well, why do patients have to continually increase their dosage, or switch to other brands, or have to keep returning to take them again. I began to wonder just how big a part of the problem some of these medications are. If you have taken anti-depressants in the past, a lot of what Hari is talking about in ‘lost connections’ is quite challenging. Yet again it seems we’ve been misled by the pharmaceutical companies. Parts of this section made me quite angry, as it feels a narrative has been forced on us that’s not entirely true. Only last week I read an article about how there is no convincing evidence that a lack of serotonin causes depression, so a lot of this information is now in the mainstream. The arguments and statistics he presents are powerful ones and it’s hard to disagree with any of it. He visits doctors and highlights research which show that it’s not as clearcut as that. Hari took his first anti-depressant at the age of 18 and had completely accepted the narrative that his illness was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. I picked up the book, where it took it’s place on my TBR shelf. I found what he had to say about Depression to be fascinating, and he was able to back up a lot of what he said with research. I first came across Johann Hari during an interview with Sam Harris on the excellent ‘Making sense’ podcast. By using research and statistics, and visiting a range of people and communities around the world, he sets out to show that it’s not chemical imbalance that causes depression but a lack of connection. Johann Hari’s ‘lost connections’ is an investigation into depression and it’s causes, and ultimately what we can do find hope. “What if depression is, in fact, a form of grief-for our own lives not being as they should? What if it is a form of grief for the connections we have lost, yet still need?”
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