I stumbled across this book — Lost Connections by Johann Hari — wandering through a bookstore about 6 weeks after my son died by suicide. Kyle Uhl was 27 and I was looking for answers, trying to understand something I still can't comprehend. As a child, the author was told that his depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, and was put on antidepressants. As an adult, he learned that almost everything we've been told about depression and anxiety is wrong. In his book Lost Connections, he identifies nine causes of depression and anxiety, and while they provided some insight, still leave questions unanswered.
Summary
The author, Johann Hari, was 18 years old when he took his first antidepressant medication, but by this time he’d already had years of experience with depression.
Even as a young child, Hari had his fair share of moments alone in a room, weeping uncontrollably. He came to understand that he was experiencing the symptoms of depression. When he went to his doctor for treatment, his doctor explained that the cause of depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which can be alleviated with prescription antidepressants.
For Hari, this meant taking Paxil, one of many drugs on the market classified as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which claim to raise a person’s serotonin levels to that of a “normal,” non-depressed person.
Like many patients taking SSRIs for the first time, Hari experienced some initial relief, but it didn’t last long. So his doctor upped the dosage, leading to another period of relief followed by a relapse into depression and yet another increase in the dosage.
He was thirty-nine years old, and almost every year he had been alive, depression and anxiety had increased in Britain and across the Western world. Why?
Eventually, in his 30s, Hari was faced with the truth: After over a decade of Paxil, he was still depressed. Following this realization, he embarked on an extensive period of research on the topic of depression and antidepressants, and what he discovered was truly shocking. At thirty-nine years old, and almost every year he had been alive, depression and anxiety had increased in Britain and across the Western world. Why?
My Comments
While his book may not be an answer for everyone, it provides valuable insight into the complexities of what's become an epidemic. I believe that mental and physical health are not separate from one another, are in fact interconnected, and need to be treated simultaneously. Johann Hari's book Lost Connections has the potential to lead us to a very different understanding of depression and anxiety — and show how, together, we can end this epidemic.
You can buy the book, or read it online, at Amazon or visit the authors' website . . .
