Book Review: Lost Connections - Why You're Depressed and How to Find Hope

by Johann Hari

A lady in my network lost her sister to suicide a few years ago and her words when she recommended this book were, “I so desperately needed to understand. I needed closure. I then read this book and I started to understand.”

For me, this book was an eye-opener and it challenged everything I thought I knew about why depression and anxiety are so widespread. It turns out that genetics and brain chemicals are only a small part of the larger picture.

The author, Johann Hari, is a journalist who took his first antidepressant at 18 after not being able to remember a time in his life when he hadn’t felt emotional pain. At 18 his doctor told him he had a chemical imbalance in his brain that needed to be fixed and therefore the medication would help. It did for a while but the depression always came back. Over the years doses were increased or changes were made and for a while he would feel better. The side effects were very real.

He started to question why, if his problem was simply a chemical imbalance, the medication didn’t give him long term relief. So, in his thirties he went in search of answers.

He spoke to the leading researchers and social scientists who have been conducting studies over decades into each of the 9 causes of depression outlined in the book - the ‘lost connections’. The results of the research make compelling reading.

Part 3 of the book looks into re-connection - what can be done to heal each of the 9 causes of depression and anxiety, also based on research studies.

If, like the author, you wonder why the medication hasn’t worked for you or you’re looking to understand the causes of your (or someone close to you) depression and/or anxiety, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

It challenges our current medical model of dealing with mental illness.

* A word of warning - if you are triggered by reading about someone being violently ill, then I suggest you skip over the Prologue - you won’t lose anything important from the book by not reading it. The main message of the Prologue is that we need our symptoms because they inform us that something is wrong. If we suppress or cover up our symptoms, we can end up a lot worse off.

You can find Lost Connections at your local book store or online at Book Depository.