Johann Hari was depressed as a young man. He was told a story about why he felt so down: that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. They say that the brains of depressed people have lower levels of serotonin (the happiness molecule). Then we’re told that Big Pharma has the answer. They’ve made drugs that can restore your serotonin levels back to “normal”. This version of the answer says that depression is a brain disease, and companies have the cure… for a profit of course.

When scientists tested the water supply in Western countries, they found find it laced with antidepressants. We’re literally and figuratively awash with these drugs.  What is startling in other cultures has become normal to the Western world. We’ve just accepted that a huge number of people are so distressed that they need to take a powerful chemical every day to pull themselves together.

Johann Hari has asked a distinctly different question. Could something other than bad brain chemistry be causing depression and anxiety?

This question led to 3 years of research and 200+ interviews. The story that it is all in our head has holes in it. What Johann Hari has found is another story: depression is largely due to the world and how we live in it. The factors that cause depression in society are everywhere. Even worse, they are on the rise.

Disclaimer: we are not psychologists or psychiatrists, or in any way giving medical advice.

Prescribed pills are appearing more and more in our lives. We Westerners are popping pills like they’re candy. These drugs are everywhere:
• 1 in 5 US adults are taking at least one drug for psychiatric problems
• 1 in 4 middle aged women are taking antidepressants
• 1 in 10 boys in high school are on a powerful stimulant to make them focus

When scientists tested the water supply in Western countries, they found  find it laced with antidepressants. We’re literally and figuratively awash with these drugs.  What is startling in other cultures has become normal to the Western world. We’ve just accepted that a huge number of people are so distressed that they need to take a powerful chemical every day to pull themselves together.

So why is the world feeling so depressed and severely anxious?

Some suggest that the darkest of depressions is solely due to bad brain chemistry. They say that for depressed people, their brain has naturally depleted levels of a chemical called ‘serotonin’, the happiness molecule. We’re told that Big Pharma has the answer. They’ve made drugs capable of  that can restoring e your serotonin levels back to “normal”. This version of the answer says that depression is a brain disease… and companies have the cure, for a profit of course.

When Johann Harari first bought into this story and took the drug Prozac, he felt a warm surge run through his body. He had a chemical armour that he could now face the world with. But a few months later, he started to notice the sadness was creeping back in. He and his doctor agreed to up the dose from 20mg a day to 30mg a day. His happiness increased again, but the visible side effects also increased: he put on a few extra kegs and sweated more. Again, this extra happiness was only temporarily. Every time the sadness came back, his doctor upped the dose. The cycle continued until he was hitting 60mg a day. He was fat and sweating, but he thought this was a fair price to pay for being happy.

This first answer to depression has two parts. First about what causes depression: a malfunction in the brain due to a serotonin deficiency or glitch in the mental hardware. The second is that drugs solve the problem. He lived by this story for a decade, popping pills and thinking he was now happy.

But years later, he was back in the therapist’s office. He said that he was grateful for the antidepressants. But the therapist said “that’s strange… it seems like you are still quite depressed. You are emotionally stressed a lot of the time and you’re much like you were before you were prescribed these drugs”.

How could this be true? How can he be depressed while taking antidepressants? This was cognitive dissonance in full effect. For the first time, he started questioning the long-held story about depression. Could something other than bad brain chemistry be causing depression and anxiety?

This question led to 3 years of research and 200+ interviews. The story that it is all in our head has holes in it. What Johann Hari has found is another story: depression is largely due to the world and how we live in it. The factors that cause depression in society are everywhere. Even worse, they are on the rise.

Cause 1: Disconnection from Meaningful Work

Some jobs are monotonous. They suck. Imagine Joe, a nicely paid technician working at the paint store. If you need a specific shade of cherry red, Joe’s your man. He’ll take the order, say “thank you”, match your swatch, shake the paint, then wait for the next customer. This is what he does all day every day. For Joe, there is limited room for growth and impact. The only time the boss gives him advice is when he is late to work.
In 2011 there was a detailed study across 142 countries about people and their work. They found that:
• 13% of people were engaged. They are enthusiastic and committed to work for their organization in a positive manner
• 63% were not engaged. They were “sleepwalking through their work day. Putting time, but not energy or passion into their work”
• 24% were actively disengaged. They “aren’t just unhappy at work but busy acting out their unhappiness”. They’re trying to blow the ship up!
Disempowerment, the feeling that you’ve got no autonomy in what you do, is at the heart of poor health at work. Your tasks are monotonous, boring and soul destroying. Such jobs lead to depression.

Cause 2: Disconnection from Other People

Evolution loves connection because it produces better chances of survival. But more people say they’re feeling disconnected than any other time in history. Loneliness hangs over our culture today like a fart in a lift.
This is bad for our health. One study looked at rats. It found that isolated rats developed 84 times the number of breast cancer tumours that lived in a community. Another study showed that lonely people are in constant states of underlying stress, spotting threats within 150 milliseconds, twice as fast as socially connected people.

Our sense of community is plummeting. Social scientists wanted to know how many people you can turn to in a crisis. When they first started testing this several decades ago the average answer was 3. In 2004 it was zero. That is wild! There are more Americans who have zero close friends than any other time in history. We do things with other humans less than ever before.

Cause 3: Disconnection from Meaningful Values

Researchers found that the ancient philosophers were right all along: if you overvalue money and possessions, you will be unhappy. The study looked at grad students, measuring how much they value things like money compared to things like spending time with the family or trying to make the world a better place. They called this the aspiration index. The results were clear: the more you valued material stuff, the more likely you are to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Those who achieve extrinsic goals (like money or objects) don’t get any bump up in day-to-day happiness. They spend all of their energy chasing these goals, but aren’t fulfilled when they achieve them. Things like the promotion, the fancy car, the new iPhone don’t do a hell of a lot. But people who achieve intrinsic goals (like a sense of accomplishment or a feeling of doing the right thing) become significantly happier and less depressed.

Cause 4: Disconnection from Status and Respect

Evolutionary biologist Robert Sapolsky was studying baboons in Kenya. Part of the troop was the Alpha Baboon, Solomon. He was the king and could do whatever he wanted: he snatched food out of the hands of other baboons and had sex with any female he wanted. Then you’ve got the baboon at the bottom of the heap: Job, named after the unluckiest man in the bible. Whenever anyone was having a bad day, they’d take it out on Job. His food was snatched, he got beaten up, and of course got no sex.

Sapolsky consistently fired tranquilizer darts at them to test their blood. In the vast majority of the time, the lower you are on the hierarchy the more stressed you are. Poor old Job was stressed all the time.
Humans have the same stress hormones as the low ranking baboons. If you’ve got low status, you’re going to have the same response as old mate Job. The problem is, the world is constantly bombarding us to feel low status. On TV, you’re told that the only ones that matter are the rich and famous. On Instagram, the accounts getting all the likes are those bikini babes with the perfect rigs. Your chances of joining them seem to be getting smaller.
Some cultures, like the US, have very large gaps between the people at the top and bottom. There are a couple of Solomons and the rest are Jobs. But in other cultures, like Norway, there is more equality. The gap between the haves and the have nots is smaller, with most people somewhere in the middle. Data shows that the more unequal your society is, the more prevalent all forms of mental illness are. The higher the inequality, the higher the depression.

Lost Connections isn’t saying that all chemical antidepressants aren’t bad. Some credible scientists argue that they give temporary relief to a minority of uses that shouldn’t be dismissed. But it is a false story that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance and the primary solution is the anti depressant. The story has made pharmaceutical companies over $100 billion, but the problem still persists.
What this author IS saying is that while chemical imbalance forms part of the story, it isn’t the only cause. Depression is also fuelled by social and spiritual imbalance. If you’re depressed, there are a few ‘natural antidepressants’ you could try before turning to prescriptions. These options include looking for a career change, connection with others, comparing yourself with those below, and earning some status and respect.