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A review by jay_sy
Lost Connections: Why You're Depressed and How to Find Hope by Johann Hari
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Lost Connections by Johann Hari begins talking about how for a long time people believed that Depression was the result of an imbalance in the brain or had a genetic component. I can certainly remember those times and I think that those beliefs are finally starting to shift. I was interested to see a different perspective.
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
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