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

In what is likely to be considered a controversial alternative approach to treating depression, Hari, author of Chasing the Scream, a best-selling treatise on the war on drugs and addiction, has provided a fascinating alternative theory to the causes and treatments of depression (heretofore considered a chemical imbalance in the brain). As a long-time sufferer himself, Hari has a personal stake in an investigation that takes him to many sources around the world. Through personal observations and summaries of conversations with professionals in the field, Hari concludes that the sources of depression are most likely found in people who are disconnected from their work, lack sufficient social intimacies, and have lost their empathic need to connect with and understand others. In many ways, he argues that we need to rethink the fundamental causes of anxiety and mental illness and what role our environmental "disconnections" play.