Lost Connections

Like many who will consider reading this book I have suffered from bouts of extreme clinical depression for a long time, despite a life that has been, by any standard measure, filled with success, recognition, and good fortune. And I know, like most who suffer from depression do, that 1. the pain is very real, and 2. career recognition, material success, and a comfortable life have little to do with the ultimate quality of life. Three decades ago I was finally forced to seek help. And I mean forced. I was that guy in the corner office of a large organization, I owned an impressive amount of stuff, traveled the world, and split my holidays between Aspen and the Caribbean. And I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. There was no reason to. And if I hadn’t addressed it, I’d probably still be there. I, too, was treated with SSRIs and they worked remarkably well. And I could not have cared less if that was a function of the placebo effect or the drugs were addressing some chemical imbalance in my brain. I still don’t, to be honest. I do, however, care about continuous improvement in my overall health and well-being. View the beautiful valley before you from atop the mountain and you’ll seek a more magnificent mountain. I have little fear of falling back to where I was because I ultimately went through extensive psychotherapy with a brilliant and insightful doctor and he taught me how to fish, or climb, as it were. Johann Hari has provided a delightful refresher course, although that understates the contribution of this book. He has also reframed the discussion in a way that only a fellow traveler and gifted writer could. He has made both the problems and the solutions very accessible and in so doing has broadened both the audience and the quality of the dialogue. Which is why, I think, this is a book not for the depressed and anxious, but for all of humanity. Depression is often defined as a very specific manifestation of issues each and every one of us faces at some time in our lives. That doesn’t mean that different manifestations are any less painful or debilitating. Addiction is just one example. Are you drinking too much because you’re addicted or depressed? It doesn’t matter. That’s not to suggest that the source of all pain is universal. That, I think, would be naïve. We are quite literally defined by our experiences and once you’ve been around for a couple of decades or more you are experientially unique. Mark Twain once quipped, “History does not repeat itself but it often rhymes.” And so it is with mental and physical well-being. We’re more alike with each other and with the baboons of the savanna than we are different. I won’t give away the details of the book because you need to experience the context within which the author unveils the problems and their solutions. Let’s just say that the title is appropriate. It’s all about connections. I have given a great deal of thought, and now have the time to do so, as to how to re-establish the connections that have been lost in our current world. As Johann so clearly established, it is the loss at the heart of our growing collective angst and disillusionment. I have been particularly interested, in light of my executive career, with re-establishing purpose and connection in the workplace. When I began my career we never talked about work/life balance, not because we didn’t work hard or our lives outside of work weren’t important, but because our careers were an integral part of our life. We achieved connection, purpose, identity, and status there, no matter what job title you held. But that is all gone today and I have met few, even in the C-suites of corporate America, who honestly claim to get any real fulfillment from their work. And that is a function of lost connection. That loss, however, has resulted in an even bigger loss - the loss of trust that connection enables. There is no trust in the world most of us live and work in today. And by trust I don’t mean the trust to set a pile of money on the table and leave the room. I mean the trust to know that the people you work with have compassion, humility, and optimism; are competent in what they do; and have some sense of how they and we, as human beings and as a work unit, fit into the world. I read a lot of books. And this is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Johann never says so, but he is a fellow Pyrrhonist, I suspect. That, by the way, is the ultimate compliment – it’s where trust comes from. You can’t trust a person who hasn’t challenged himself or herself. And he clearly has. This is a book you should read. Perhaps more importantly, this is a book your adolescent children should read. (I feel the same way about psychotherapy, actually. It should be mandatory when you turn sixteen.) Thank you, Johann Hari.

As someone trying to make sense of my depression lessening after being unable to afford meds, this has been a source of hope. This has been a boon in expanding on Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression to understand the problem both more fully and from a different perspective. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has recurrent problems with depression as well as those attempting to understand anyone who may be suffering with (as Churchill put it) the black dog. The Breakdown is fairly straightforward: Part 1 is about clearing the air. We're suffocating in old misunderstandings about depression, personally and culturally. Hari gives his empirically justified take a chance to pique the reader's interest. Part 2 brings forth his insights into what, actually, causes depression. Each chapter in the section is remarkable - like a man who has nothing to lose speaking the truth. Until you read each and ask if it applies to you, I cannot justify the impact of each piece. Part 3 contains further insight, with well written illustrations at what solutions look like; how others have gone about attaining them. It's hope literarily incarnate. Overall, the book is exceptionally well written. Hari's tenor and language are accessible to the avid and occasional reader alike. I enjoy that the end notes do not break up the narrative, though they're a bit less helpful for referencing for those inclined. [UPDATE] I wrote the above before finishing the book. Since finishing it, I've had a few more revelations. First, I found myself using Lost Connections as therapy in itself. I began to write notes in the margins. I have been amazed at how apt Hari's insights and research were in terms of revealing my own personal narrative...and the possibilities of how that narrative has been misshapen by our culture (materialism, individualism, instant gratification-ism, etc.). As a kid, as especially as a Millennial, I was raised with the broken advice that I could be anything I wanted. I got that, for the most part, and within reason. And I was still miserable. It's profoundly helpful to hear that my inability to reconcile my lack of happiness, indeed my MDD, with what society (Gen Xers, Baby Boomers) expected. I was miserable, and I had no idea that I had a problem. I thought my incorrigibility, misanthropy, and disthymic tendencies were my fault, my original sin, my baselessness, were exclusively my problems attributable to a broken brain (or chemical imbalance). Two, this book is a call to arms for the lost, the broken, the beaten. (Depression is not, from my experience a 'battle,' it's a one sided drubbing that allows you to see allies as enemies, to go 15 rounds alone without anyone in your corner.) It made me realize that the problem, while deeply personal, is not unique. Yes, we are all special little snowflakes. Each our own unique pattern of interlaced crystals; but we're still all the same form. To fix the problem, as Hari proposes it, we have to do something as monumental as discovering the ability to change the weather (rather than put on a coat or carry an umbrella). We can have that ability, though it seems no less than implausible, if not impossible. (His Conclusion section states this case well). Three, the insights contained in the book can be the beginnings of forging the wide array of connections that Hari proposes as the panacea to this persistent imbroglio. Simply by becoming aware of some of these ideas casts a light into the obscurity of the abyss. Read this book with courage and you will find hope in its pages.

In Lost Connections, Johann Hari challenges conventional narratives surrounding depression and anxiety by moving beyond the dominant biochemical explanations. Drawing from a combination of personal experience and extensive global research, Hari identifies nine causes of depression—only two of which are biological—and argues that many mental health struggles stem from societal disconnection: from meaningful work, other people, values, childhood trauma, status and respect, the natural world, and a hopeful future. With a journalist’s eye for storytelling and a researcher’s commitment to evidence, Hari threads together interviews with experts, stories from people across continents, and reflections on his own long-term reliance on antidepressants to question why our modern world is making us feel so profoundly alone. What distinguishes Lost Connections is Hari’s commitment to reintegrating mental health into its social and cultural context. Rather than dismiss medication, he critiques its overuse as a one-size-fits-all solution while advocating for broader interventions such as community-based healing, economic justice, and environmental restoration. His exploration of the Soteria Project and social prescribing models in the UK provide compelling alternatives that are both grounded in research and profoundly human in their approach. Hari’s writing, though dense in places, remains accessible—offering both challenge and clarity for readers willing to reflect deeply on what it means to live well in a fragmented society. The key takeaway from Lost Connections is this: depression and anxiety are not solely malfunctions of the mind but symptoms of disconnection in a broken culture. This insight, backed by psychological, sociological, and anthropological research, reframes these struggles not as personal failings but as rational responses to unmet human needs. While this book is not a breezy fireside read, it is a valuable, thought-provoking choice for book clubs ready to wrestle with tough questions about mental health, social structures, and what we owe to each other in pursuit of healing.

The US suicide rate has risen nearly 30 percent since 1999. The rate in 2017 was the highest it has been in at least 50 years. Why are more Americans suffering from depression? Johan Hari interviewed prominent researchers in the field to find the answer. An award-winning journalist and best selling author, Hari suffered from depression, which ran in his family. He took antidepressants in progressively stronger doses, but inevitably the sadness returned. Hari noticed a tremendous increase in the American use of antidepressants over several decades. Today about one in four middle-aged women in the United States is taking antidepressants. His book explains why are so many more people apparently feeling depressed and severely anxious. Something changed. Hari came to understood that depression is not caused by a defective brain. Instead, anxiety and depression are reactions to how we are living. What are environmental factors causing anxiety? In a word, the cause is disconnection -- from meaningful work, from other people, from meaningful values, from nature, from a secure future. Gallup finds that 87 percent of workers are either not engaged or are actively disengaged from their jobs. Nearly twice as many people hate their jobs as love their jobs. Depression among British civil servants correlates with their rank, with higher ranked bureaucrats suffering less depression than those lower on the totem pole. The degree of control a worker has over his job is the key factor, even among workers with the same ranking. "More people say they feel lonely than ever before," and research shows that loneliness leads to depression. In most cases in one five-year study, loneliness preceded depressive symptoms. Humans evolved in tribes, and being part of a tribe was necessary for survival. "Loneliness isn’t just some inevitable human sadness, like death. It’s a product of the way we live now." Highly social groups such as the Amish and the Hutterites have very low rates of loneliness. In his book Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam of Harvard meticulously documented the sharp decline in community involvement in the US since the 1960s. Putnam also found we do fewer activities with our families, such as eating meals or watching tv together. Americans have been polled for decades about how many close friends they have; at one time the answer was three, but today the most common answer is none. In short, there has been an unprecedented social crash, which prevents us from fulfilling our desire for belonging. Cyberspace connection doesn't fill the void. The inordinate amount of time young people spend on smartphones further reduces the time they spend in face-to-face interaction. "Online connection is a pale imitation of face-to-face connection that we social animals crave. The difference between being online and being physically among people is a bit like the difference between pornography and sex: it addresses a basic itch, but it’s never satisfying. Social media can’t compensate us psychologically for what we have lost—social life." Another cause of depression is the loss of status and respect. Among baboons, the lowest ranking members of the troop have the highest levels of stress hormones, although having an insecure status was the one thing even more distressing than having a low status. In other words, stress is highest when status is low or is threatened. Depressed humans have the same stress hormone found in low-ranking male baboons. Human depression and anxiety are responses to the constant status anxiety many of us live with today. Research by Wilkinson and Picket finds that the more unequal the society, the more prevalent all forms of mental illness are. The higher the inequality, the higher the depression, which strongly suggests that something about inequality seems to be driving up depression and anxiety. This doesn’t affect only people at the bottom; in a highly unequal society, everyone has to think about their status a lot, and whether they are in danger of falling into lower status. What role do genes play in depression? The best research on identical twins reveals that 37 percent of depression is inherited, while for severe anxiety, it is between 30 and 40 percent. "So genes increase your sensitivity, sometimes significantly, but they aren’t—in themselves—the cause. Experts agree that depression caused solely by internal brain malfunction is rare or nonexistent, with the exception of bipolar or manic depressive disorders where genes play a bigger role. If Hari is right that depression is not a brain disease, then pills are not the appropriate treatment for most people. So what is? Hari says treatment would change if doctors called depression disconnection. "If disconnection is the main driver of our depression and anxiety, we need to find ways to reconnect." The Amish have low rates of depression because they have a dense community network that provides a profound sense of belonging and meaning. Alienated workers need to become reconnected to meaningful work. They need to overcome the feelings of being controlled and having no say and little status. An alternative to the corporation is the democratic cooperative, which better engages partner/workers than the hierarchical corporate structure. Partners are happier, less anxious, and less depressed than they had been working in the kind of top-down organizations that dominate our society. People are less anxious where they feel they have some control and input, as opposed to just being given orders. Finally, he would address anxiety related to low income by having government provide a guaranteed basic income. Studies of this policy show recipients have less stress, a reduced sense of financial insecurity, fewer doctor visits for anxiety and depression, and more time with their kids. Lost Connections reads like a series of stories rather than an academic journal. Hari's interviews with researchers and formerly depressed people make the book more interesting and readable. Some of his contentions are debatable, but he certainly persuades readers to rethink what we know about depression. ###

Great book about depression, community, society, and the narrative of depression in the modern era. Very enlightening and informative, well evidenced and researched.

Very enlightening. Helps people to understand their feelings and offer real practical solutions to overcome depression and anxiety. A must read.

The book reads well; definitely thought-provoking. The author shares his own life experiences and has done a lot of leg work researching a most difficult though common human condition. The early chapters are worth reading for anyone who has been depressed or knows someone with depression. He builds the case that depression is the result of isolation from other human beings in one way or another, and importantly, the most effective remedies are social rather than chemical. He challenges the current dogma that anxiety and depression represent a mere "chemical imbalance" in our brains that needs a pharmaceutical solution. Though the antidepressant medications in current vogue can be useful tools in a limited and temporary sense, he points out that the evidence would indicate they are overprescribed and not reliable in the long run, at least for the great majority of people who use them. That needs to be said, and he cites evidence as much as personal experience. He gives examples of people who went from hopelessness (even while on medication) to more fulfilling lives when they simply found a bond or common purpose with other people (sometimes by happenstance). Obviously the harder part is figuring out solutions, both individually and collectively. Some of his answers later in the book are interesting, though to me, some of them miss the mark. After he puts modern pharmaceutical antidepressants in their place, he describes his fascination with the targeted use of psychedelic drugs (notably psilocybin) as a way for some people to open up their egos and disrupt their depression, even though he recognizes this can backfire for some people. (duh) Some of his ideas in the collective are pie-in-the-sky and more politically draconian than I think he realizes. For example he thinks that a "tough advertising regulator" would be useful by prohibiting "ads designed to make us feel bad in any way." (I wonder whom he has in mind for the position.) He has great faith in "universal income" as a collective antidepressant; a nice thought in the abstract maybe, but as long as he brought it up, seems to show some lack of insight in global human economic history over the last century. There is little or no mention of church, synagogue or mosque as a source of meaningful human interconnection. And there is really no mention of the therapeutic human connection a successful marriage can provide (except he likes the idea of gay marriage). Maybe he thinks these solutions have already been covered enough. All-in-all though, I'm glad I read Mr. Hari's book and would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject. Read what he says, then come up with your own solutions.

The phrase that stuck with me after reading "Chasing the Scream" was "The opposite of addiction is connection". I didn't need any explanation for this, I simply knew it is true. When I lived in active addiction, I lost connection with my fellow human beings, and with myself, and the arctic cold of isolation almost killed him, literally. So I eagerly bought this new book and I can only say: Finally someone comes out and tells the truth about depression. Yes, I just mentioned having lived in addiction, but that went hand in hand with depression. I don't care what came first, but I know how my depression reinforced my addiction and how my addiction returned the 'favour'. The view of depression as a natural reaction to lousy circumstances simply makes sense. Okay, there may be other factors that come into the equation, but as a general explanation it is acceptable to me. Yes, my brain chemistry may have been pre-set by my genes, but it was the circumstances that triggered the reaction of depression. I compare this with my addiction: it is completely possible I was born with the 'alcoholic gene' but that needed to be triggered - had I never touched drink, I would not have become addicted. Mr. Hari's detailed suggestions and his research into the possible solutions confirm my own experience; after entering a 12-step program, I began to build connections, with other addicts who knew how I felt and where I came from, and then, slowly, with people who had not gone through these experiences. By reaching out to others for help, and then offering help to others, the connections became stronger and stronger, and my depression slowly, slowly, was lifted. I would not say I am an atheist, I do feel that there is a power in the universe, but I lack the faith that this power is personal and that it cares about me. However, I do pray, but in a different way: if I pray for someone else, I do not think for a moment this will help them - but it helps me to focus my attitude towards them, opens me up to be there for them, and to show them active love and empathy. There is a nice phrase that is used in Alcoholics Anonymous that states , 'if you feel a resentment against someone, pray for them, for at least three weeks, every day' - it will not change them, it will change you! So, yes, prayer, for me, is more a form of meditation, but whatever it's called, it works for me. Of course, I still get the blues, every now and then, since life keeps on throwing hard rocks at everyone, but it is so much easier for me, now to climb over these obstacles. I am in the daily habit of reminding me what I am grateful for, and it doesn't have to be a "God" for me; just being grateful by itself works, as long as my gratitude translates into positive action. Okay, coming down from my soap box, all that is left to say is: it was about time that this book was written and published. Thank you, Mr. Hari, for your first book and even more so for this one!

Wow super interesting So many things that I was able to relate to Would definitely recommend to authentic people who seek meaningful connections but nevertheless experience loneliness today!!

Lost Connection è stata una rivelazione. Sono "scottata" dai libri di auto aiuto e di crescita personale. Il più delle volte sono ridondanti di concetti ripetuti all'infinito. Li trovo vuoti, noiosi da leggere, riassumibili in 10 pagine. Questo libro è un mondo a sé. Analizza i "perché" delle malattie mentali (depressione in primis) del nuovo millennio e lo fa da vicino, vicinissimo, dando voce (e riportando a fine lettura) a colossi del settore e a studi che hanno coinvolto migliaia di partecipanti. Mi ha aperta ad un'infinità di nuove prospettive e, ad oggi, è stato il primo libro in grado di farmi mettere DAVVERO in discussione tutto ciò che facevo per prendermi cura della mia psiche portandomi ad un cambio di rotta decisionale. Non smetterò mai di consigliarlo. 10+!

I want to buy this book for everyone I know who has been brainwashed into the mental disorder / chemical imbalance ideology and thinks of themselves as faulty. The way we live is messed up. This is a brilliant book packed with in depth research dished up in a way that is useful and brings hope and makes complete sense. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It’s fantastic and so well written. There needs to be a social movement out of this important book.

Very good book.. Just finished reading Kindle edition.. A perspective changing book, A must for those with anxiety and depression; for those who are care givers for people with depression and anxiety; those who want to understand depression and anxiety and for health care professionals in related fields. 5 star rating for content, research, presentation, courage to go against the prevailing thinking in society and bigwigs, courage to accept incorrect stands taken by author (on this topic) in the past. But I recently read criticisms about book and author on Google. I am not in position to evaluate that in depth. So just mentioned this to have a balanced views. But personally I found great insights in this book.

I read this book based on recommendations by my friends and I have to admit I am a bit torn right now writing this review: On one hand, I found this book very inspiring and it helped me quite a lot in understanding myself a bit more and in trying to find solutions for myself. I loved the insights and it really hit a mark. BUT on the other hand, I found this book at parts very cheesy and overly "American"-ized, so to say. The metaphors and examples used are often like getting smacked into your head with a tree trunk. There's no subtlety and the writing is filled, at parts, with overly dramatic accentuations so I as a reader often felt like reading a biased diary of someone instead of an actual novel. "Lost Connections" is definitely a book that I would recommend- and already have recommended- to other people but only with a "reading discretion": try to find the essence but don't get stuck in the sometimes terribly camp-y writing or get distracted by the very obvious and biased examples. Otherwise, it's a great read and I felt like I learned new things :)