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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
I heavily appreciate that there is research and facts implemented through out this book that make me think of how we can actually solve the issues of depression and anxiety. And surprise: it’s not just about taking antidepressants and going to therapy. Johann Hari points out the flaws of medications and the advertising that goes into it for us to believe the idea of medications to save our lives. He also mentions that we simply are disconnected in a variety of ways because society seems as a reasonable thing to be. I believe we should see it, as he says towards the end of the book: “Depression and anxiety might, in one way, be the sanest reaction you have. 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” (Hari, p. 325).
If anyone else struggles like me with depression and anxiety, I highly recommend this book. The research isn’t all technical jabber that makes anyone avoid research, but put in a language easy for us to understand the point and purpose of said research.
Review:
In my second semester of college, we did a paper called “Group and Youth Psychology”. What I remember most from the class is a sense of understanding that what is actually happening to me isn’t unique or tabooed in any way, and at the same time I also felt blessed that unlike some of the case studies, I could consciously identify that there was a deep feeling of sadness, with moments of joy and then absolutely and painful anxiety. I am in no way saying, that whatever I felt is what everyone else goes through, or whatever were my causes were everybody’s’ too. I am only saying that post that semester I was able to breathe a little better, be more in tune with my feelings.
“You need your nausea. You need your pain. It is a message and we must listen to the message”
This book was just a prolonged exercise in the same feeling. It is beautifully crafted and written, in a way that the feeling that “we aren’t alone” in reinforced. For someone who’s already studied group studies and experiments, this won’t seem to be saying a lot. It is the writer’s own insight, provided by the anecdotes and the stories of people removed from the field of psychology, that are truly inspiring. After reading the book, I just remember analysing every aspect of my life, do I sometimes avoid people? Do I deliberately make myself feel cut-off? What is affecting me more: my social, psychological or biological factors? Can I really open up to my family and find the unconditional support from them, which a therapist gives?
The real life incidents of Kotti, the Clinic, and the Motor Cycle Shop are admirable and really revolutionary. Most of the other finding seemed pretty straightforward and obvious, but I was still shocked to find out that these aren’t widely accepted by psychiatrists. Another shocker was the pills, and the antidepressants. Some people I know, have structured their life around the idea that there is something geological and biological “lacking” in them, and by taking these antidepressants they would be able to “function” better. And for the most part even I had that point of view. So when the reality was presented with figures and experiments, I was really pissed. Generally, anyone who has been holding on to their pill as means to get better from whatever they are feeling, won’t be happy if you suddenly told them that this pill doesn’t work 89% of the time.
Another fact was the equating of grief with mental illness. Grieving is a form of overcoming loss. And lately everywhere, there seems to be an expiration date on the amount of time you can spend grieving over something, which includes breakups or fight over your best friend. However when this fact is written down, in Psychology journals, it just takes another level of seriousness. Someone who has been crying over a fight they had over a month ago, reads somewhere that this behaviour is (in all possibility very similar to) a mental illness, they will inadvertently start believing that there is something wrong with their way of coping or thinking.
One possible drawback for me was, the lack of east centered data. Most studies focused on the west and even though in passing Hari did mention India and China and the Middle East, there were very few experiments that took place in these countries.
“As long as you live this neuroplasticity never stops, and the brain ‘is always changing’, Marc explained to me”
There was just so many thought provoking case studies in the book. Depression and Anxiety has been extensively researched, and new insights have been provided. Bottom line is, this book is a masterpiece that everyone should read. It isn’t a solution or a cure to all our distress, but it is a start of something wonderful, and of communication and connection with nature, and with yourself.
“We have been tribe-less and disconnected for so long now.
It is time for us all to come home.”
- Samidha
Some thoughts while reading:
-it was a little shocking learning about the pharmaceutical data and how little of an effect those drugs actually have for depression
-there are drugs that lower serotonin but people who take them don't notice a worsening mood
-for a drug to get approval there needs to be only two trials that show a positive effect even if you do a thousand trials and the rest don't show any effect
-when doctors medicate their patients for depression rather than asking what might be wrong in their lives it can cause people to doubt or feel disconnected from their own feelings since things like grief may be labeled as abnormal rather than natural
-doing meaningless jobs, feeling like we have no control, or feeling like our work garners no apparent positive or negative effects can result in depression
-feelings of loneliness come before depression and its impacts are as harmful as obesity. It also causes micro Awakenings during sleep possibly because people don't feel like they have someone watching their back
-generations ago the average American had three friends but now the average American has zero
-chasing extrinsically motivated goals doesn't make people happy when they achieve them and being extrinsically motivated increases anxiety. Extrinsic motivations also damage relationships since people are focused on the superficial
-childhood trauma has such a strong effect on adulthood depression and anxiety that it might not be a correlation but causal
-among other primates the struggle for status is one of the biggest causes of stress
-animals in captivity sink to a level of depression (eg self harm) that is never seen even when they're suffering great stress in nature
-the chapter on not having hope for the future made me profoundly sad
-the study that showed that people were crueler to those who explained their depression as a disease rather than something traumatic that happened in childhood was a rather side insight into how people behave
-it makes a lot of sense to me that connection to others can alleviate a lot of depression based on personal experience
-I like that the solution addresses that societal changes need to be made, rather than focusing only on the individual
-I wish there had been more about overcoming childhood trauma
-I feel like I should take the time to get into meditation again. I often forget that there are so many different kinds and maybe it would give me a new perspective.
Overall, a compelling read that has given me a great deal to think about. I'd give it a 4 out of 5
