Review: ‘Lost Connections’ by Johann Hari

I recently had the privilege of reading Lost Connections by Johann Hari. This book opened my eyes to the importance of being connected to the world around us, to nature, to other humans and building a community of people who feel connected to one another and finding we are connected to a greater good. So I thought I would begin this blog with a book review on a fascinating book which I believe is well worth a read! 

Lost Connections by Johann Hari 

Published 11/01/2018 by Bloomsbury

Johann Hari has suffered from depression ever since he was a child and took his first antidepressant tablet when he was eighteen years old. He spoke a lot about his journey into antidepressants and the research that was going on through the different periods in his life. This book is not only a raw and honest account of his experiences but full of research and cutting edge science in the field of depression and anxiety. 

In the book Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope, Johann Hari writes about the lesser-known side of depression and anxiety. Whilst travelling the world he visits friends, communities, researchers, psychologists some of which are exploring cutting- edge science to cure those suffering from depression without the use of medication. During his travels he learns that depression is not just a biological ailment/ chemical imbalance, but our environment, our culture play a part. 

Reading this book was truly interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What impressed me most was Hari’s ability to collaborate with many different psychologists to bring their research into this book whilst learning more about his own depression. While reading this book I could really feel how painful it was while Hari was battling with everything he was told about his depression and what he was learning whilst on his journey of discovery. Whilst doing this he made the argument that the key to treating depression does not land on simply handing out medication, but rather in re-establishing the lost connections in our lives. 

“In Kotti, the housing project where I spent so much time in Berlin, that change started with something as prosaic as demanding a rent freeze, but in that fight, they realised that there were many connections that they had been missing for a long time. I thought a lot about what one of the women in Kotti had said to me. She had – as I mentioned before – grown up in the village in Turkey, and she had thought of the whole village as her home. But when she came to Europe, she learned that you are supposed to think of home as just your own apartment, and she felt alone there. But when the protest began, she started to think of the whole housing project and everyone in it as her home. She realised she had felt homeless for more than thirty years, and now she had a home once again.” Lost Connections by Johann Hari page 261 

Hari believes that depression is what happens when we find ourselves disconnected, most of which have to do with difficult life circumstances. Hari has a theory that there are nine causes of disconnection which I will list below. 

1. Disconnection from meaningful work. This can happen when a person does not feel valued in the workplace, or feel as though they have no control or authority. This can also happen if we feel as though we are not making a difference, what we do does not matter. 
2. Disconnection from others. When a person feels lonely, or the sense that they do not belong, Hari states that loneliness leads to depression and not the other way around. 
3. Disconnection from meaningful values. Our society is constantly telling us we will look better, be better, feel better if we buy these products. Adverts focus on our worst bits and tell us we are not good enough because of them. With the move to a more materialistic society we are becoming more detached from our meaningful values. All of this can contribute to depression.
4. Disconnection from childhood trauma. Hari looks at a study done in San Diego which found that the more traumatic your childhood was the more likely you were to suffer from depression.

“They called it the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study- and it’s quite simple. It’s a questionnaire. You are asked about ten different categories of terrible things that can happen to you when you’re a kid….. One of the things they added to the list almost as an afterthought – was the question: Are you suffering from depression?…. It turned out that for every category for traumatic experience you went through as a kid, you were radically more likely to become depressed as an adult.” Lost Connections by Johann Hari Page 111

5. Disconnect from status. Hari found that in places like America where the gap between the wealthy and the poor is so large you are more likely to find higher rates of depression. 
6. Disconnection from the  natural world. People who are unable to easily access nature, trees, grass, flowers, the beach etc, are more likely to feel stressed, or despair then those who can access nature with ease. 
7. Disconnection from a secure and hopeful or secure future: A Canadian psychology professor named Michael Chandler spent time researching the suicide rates of 196 first nation groups accross the country. The results of his research concluded that those who were able to keep control were able to see hope for the future, however for those where the government came in and took all control away from a group, that group was unable to see any kind of future. In these groups the suicide rate was high. 
8. And 9. Genes and changes in the brain  We know that there is a genetic influence in depression, however it only accounts for 37 percent of cases. When people spend more time focusing their thoughts on despair, negative self talk etc rather than joy, positive self talk etc our brain is able to change by neuroplasticity strengthening the negative feeling areas. 

With all this in mind and all the research Hari has explored he comes to the realisation that the most beneficial way to help those suffering from depression is not to just turn to medication but to do something called a social prescription. On his travels he met some Doctors who have already realised the value of social prescriptions. It is a way to help people reconnect with others around them, providing people with meaningful work, meaningful values, and connecting with nature through a community garden for example. Also allowing people the opportunity to overcome their past trauma. This book is full of examples of different ways in which people have done this with great success. This is a way in which we can reconnect those lost connections. 

In conclusion I found Lost Connections by Johann Hari a fascinating read, which has turned what I thought I knew about depression on its head. Community is something that our society is greatly missing. I am trying to incorporate the lessons I have learnt while reading this book into my life becoming more aware of these 9 connections, if I am feeling imbalanced is it because I am feeling disconnected? And if so, how can I reconnect again? I do still wonder if there is still a place for medication however I believe that the way in which it is prescribed needs re thinking. If we can get to a place where instead of upping the dose we can lower the dose while upping the social prescription until medication is no longer needed we may start to see people feeling joyful again.