Hari’s attempt to brainwash people into thinking socialism is the cure for depression, completely taints the rest of what-would-be legitimate arguments. I wanted to give Lost Connections one star because of how infuriating it is that Hari politisizes depression. BUT, when I reflected at the end of this book - it did connect some dots in my own struggles. I did like the point that Hari conclusively makes that “pain is our ally.” We NEED the painful emotions as symptoms & signal to show us that so...

As a mental health professional and person living with major depressive disorder, I was fairly certain going in that I wasn’t going to agree with this book, which argues against any sort of biological causation for depression. What I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of absurdity and apparently deliberate misunderstanding/misinterpretation that I found.From my perspective, the absurdity began when the author wrote the he had an “epiphany” at age 18: “I’m not happy, I’m not weak - I’m depressed!...

It’s not seretonin; it’s society.

At his best, Hari writes with real compassion and insight, advancing an important argument that we need to expand our understanding of both depression and of anti depressants. Popping pills to solve a chemical imbalance is not the answer, but rather identifying what it is that you/ we are disconnected from - including with the help of mental health professionals, but not exclusively. He consults experts, showcases innovative approaches and research and thinks about things ‘for a long time’ as he...

"We need to move from 'focusing on chemical imbalances to focusing on power imbalances.'"You are not suffering from a chemical imbalance in your brain. You are suffering from a social and spiritual imbalance in how we live. Much more than you've been told up to now, it's not serotonin; it's society. It's not your brain; it's your pain. Your biology can make your distress worse, for sure. But it's not the cause. It's not the driver. It's not the place to look for the main explanation, or the main...

This book purports to be groundbreaking but is actually an example of sloppy and unscientific reasoning. The author quotes studies published in the 1990's to critique "modern thinking" about clinical depression and anxiety. However, modern thinking on clinical depression and anxiety has advanced by leaps and bounds just in the time I've been typing this review. At a minimum, a book about science should refer to science published in the New Millennium. A further example of the author's messiness

Just not for me. I found that this book unnecessarily portrayed psychiatrists and anti-depressants negatively. I was presented with plenty of studies related to other causes but the idea of anti-depressant studies was quickly dismissed as being biased because of ‘Big Pharma’ funding - which I think is an insult to the men and women scientists working for companies conducting this research.For me, the causes and ‘reconnections’ highlighted are all part of ‘psychiatric treatment’ in conjunction wi...

I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. First, I would like to note that, as a psychiatric nurse, I like to consider myself a mental health professional who knows a little something about things like depression and anxiety. Second, I’m also certified in choice theory/reality therapy, which meshes pretty well with a lot of ideas in this book. Third, as someone who copes with (self-diagnosed) anxiety and depression, I’d like to think I know a few th...

Cannot believe I’m giving 5-stars to a popular psychology book!--Judging by this book's popularity/stellar ratings in a genre I avoid, I was preparing a niche review contrasting this book with bad “pop psych”.…Then, I noticed the top review accuses this book of being another bad “pop psych” book! “Instead he presents another wildly oversimplistic explanation and then claims credit for Figuring It All Out Unlike Those Actual Scientists And Doctors.”…So, I’ll first unpack the negative review (a us...

Hoo boy! Where to start? Well Hari starts by saying that everything I know about depression is wrong, which is a bold claim given that I've lived with it, waxing and waning, for most of my life. So what does he say?Hari: Everyone thinks that depression is simply caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain!Me: Well, of course depression is caused by chemicals in the brain. Every part of our experience is caused by chemicals in the brain. That's what the brain DOES. Love, rage and that annoying ti...

I thank the author for writing this book and the person who gifted me a copy. Finally, the truth!!Every psychiatrist who believes that serotonin chemical imbalance in the brain is the reason for depression and anxiety should read this book! Anyone taking prescribed anti-depressants and not finding relief from their symptoms needs to read this book. Like the author, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at a young age and prescribed medication. For years I tried many different drugs includi...

I was gonna set this to 4* but Mr Hari does leave me feeling ever so empowered :)And seems to provide me with new reasons to criticise Russell Brand! Which I love doing anyway ;) Because unfortunately for Mr Hari I'd argue, he seems trapped into calling for revolutions."Hey!" his publishers say. "Do that calling-for-revolution thing you do. Really gets books flying off shelves!"The last book I read of Hari's, Chasing the Scream, I did so when a bit younger and looking for "THE answer", so his re...

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it raises really important topics and there is a lot of very interesting data in there. There were bits of this book that I found helpful and insightful. On the other hand, there is a lot of oversimplification in this book. I have been particularly annoyed with the oversimplifications around biology/psychopharmacology and almost dropped the book after the first few chapters and then I reminded myself that this is the area that I know a lot

3.5I'd recommend just listening to Hari's episode on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, episode #1077, because you'll hear the most important points of his book and Joe Rogan is a pretty good person to hear responding to it. I thought the book was unnecessarily lengthy, I guess he wanted to show off his journalistic skills because he had a few deep experiences talking to people about this. He divided his book into two parts: what causes depression and then how we can solve it. I found the first p...