Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions

What’s worse is that the self-help industry looks at these same symptoms and believes an injection of motivation and an inspirational story is the answer. It’s not interested in finding out the underlying cause either. This realization led me to ask: If these are my symptoms, what is the cause? We all experience setbacks to varying degrees througho

‘How different would it be’, the clinical psychologist Dr Lucy Johnstone told Johann Hari in his book Lost Connections, ‘if when you went to your doctor, she “diagnosed” us with “disconnection”? What would happen then?’26

Depression and anxiety might, in one way, be the sanest reaction you have.6 It’s a signal, saying—you shouldn’t have to live this way, and if you aren’t helped to find a better path, you will be missing out on so much that is best about being human.

Year after year, throughout my practice, hundreds and hundreds of people have showed up in my office, trying to understand why they feel so flat, so angry, so irritable, so anxious, so depressed. Many reports in recent years both highlight and quantify an increase in anxiety, depression, suicide, and acts of violence.