Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression | Johann Hari | RSA Replay

One of my family members attempted suicide. He thought his business of 30 years was failing, he was tired, burned out. Being 60, he felt trapped. Life is stressful. There is no pill that's going to fix a bad reality. For many depressed people I know personally, they feel trapped by their circumstances, feel alone, and see no clear path forward. Once you're caught in too many negative thoughts, it's a hard thing to get out of. I wouldn't call myself a depressed person, but when I feel down, I always try to surround myself with good people who I can talk to. The more open I am about the issues I have in my life, the more it feels as if the weight is lifted off my shoulders. I realized that no matter how unique your problem may feel, it probably isn't. There are many people going through similar situations. You're not as alone as you may think you are. Which is why talking (in my opinion) helps so much.

"Thinking individualistically correlates very strongly with depression & anxiety" - excellent talk by Johann Hari. Loneliness Everybody is lonely. Even in a crowd.  Perhaps less when alone, and able to make contact with oneself. If you don't want to be alone, then go spend time with others.  Or invite people to your home; offer something or give of yourself. What do you have to share? What have you learnt from life? What have you accumulated that you no longer need? What can you give away? How do you encounter the world? Are you here to take or contribute? Have you even been able to receive yourself? To connect with your own needs? Do you have a sense of having something to do? Is there something missing from your life? Find the motivation to encounter that purpose  in the world, and you'll be one of those connected & satisfied, With inner meaning and a direction to go in. For it is when you connect with yourself, that you're no longer lonely. Selma Piro October 2017

I very much agree with this, from my own personal experience I vouch that this idea about depression can be fixed with social life is true, you really have to do something boring like dealing with peoples to actually avoid depression in later days. In my case I toyed with the idea of giving myself some time to be with others or for others' benefit (like entertaining them or helping them), and giving myself some time be creative (ie: games & art); as a prescription to maintain my own mood, or SANITY!... as well as allowing myself the time to grow my potential (as I always wanted) and to indulge myself ... the idea that you can just focus on 1 thing alone for the whole day is bad, it lead to depression even when the thing you do is enjoyable! somehow just doing things you enjoy can't cure depression!... We need a balanced lifestyle like we do need a balanced diet.

I read his book. It’s good. I think connection is lacking in our society. We have to make an effort to connect. What I mean is go out to places where we can meet like minded people. That’s not easy for me. But I push myself esp. in the winter months. I do journal writing which helps. I also do yoga. Counseling is exp naive and I’m on a budget. My copays are $40 each session. In th past, in the late 70’s early 80’s they had co-counseling. People signed up to counsel each other with some basic rules of communication that helped it work. We need something like that now.

People are willfully def to this message because they are too proud to admit they are wrong. Because we all have had a hand in creating this problem.

Wonderful talk. So true

thank you johann & rsa ... I think you hv profoundly changed my life -- human interaction .... give & take .... awesome ! :-)

It makes sense. Great presentation.

Well said Johann Hari, very nice very insightful! Being kind to others is such a great antidote.

Really enjoyable and insightful talk! Looking forward to reading his book :-)

very good presentation. positively clear.

Atta boy Johann!

First of all, I need to say that I was deeply impressed by this conversation. Clearly, the problem of depression is not merely an issue of chemical imbalance, and has deeper causes. But then again, we can't simply "give cows" to everybody, can we? Who is going to provide all those "cows"? there aren't enough of them to go around!

Starts @3:50

I used to work in a hopsital. He's bang on the money.

Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.

Amazing talk... next, tackle ADHD.

Unenlightened parents having kids. Connection is damaged so drugs are used to self repair

Democratise the workplace - Start a cooperative! See Prof. Richard Wolff!

🙏👍👍