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The Real Causes Of Depression Have Been Discovered, And They’re Not What You Think

Across the Western world today, if you are depressed or anxious and you go to your doctor because you just can’t take it anymore, you will likely be told a story. It happened to me when I was a teenager in the 1990s. You feel this way, my doctor said, because your brain isn’t working right. It isn’t producing the necessary chemicals. You need to take drugs, and they will fix your broken brain.

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Image credits: iStock

I tried this strategy with all my heart for more than a decade. I longed for relief. The drugs would give me a brief boost whenever I jacked up my dose, but then, soon after, the pain would always start to bleed back through. In the end, I was taking the maximum dose for more than a decade. I thought there was something wrong with me because I was taking these drugs but still feeling deep pain.

In the end, my need for answers was so great that I spent three years using my training in the social sciences at Cambridge University to research what really causes depression and anxiety, and how to really solve them. I was startled by many things I learned. The first was that my reaction to the drugs wasn’t freakish ― it was quite normal.

“Many leading scientists believe the whole idea that depression is caused by a “chemically imbalanced” brain is wrong”

Depression is often measured by scientists using something called the Hamilton Scale. It runs from 0 (where you are dancing in ecstasy) to 59 (where you are suicidal). Improving your sleep patterns gives you a movement on the Hamilton Scale of around 6 points. Chemical antidepressants give you an improvement, on average, of 1.8 points, according to research by professor Irving Kirsch of Harvard University. It’s a real effect – but it’s modest. Of course, the fact it’s an average means some people get a bigger boost. But for huge numbers of people, like me, it’s not enough to lift us out of depression – so I began to see we need to expand the menu of options for depressed and anxious people. I needed to know how. mental-health-ladder_770 Image credits: iStock

But more than that – I was startled to discover that many leading scientists believe the whole idea that depression is caused by a “chemically imbalanced” brain is wrong. I learned that there are in fact nine major causes of depression and anxiety that are unfolding all around us. Two are biological, and seven are out in here in the world, rather than sealed away inside our skulls in the way my doctor told me. The causes are all quite different, and they play out to different degrees in the lives of depressed and anxious people. I was even more startled to discover this isn’t some fringe position – the World Health Organization has been warning for years that we need to start dealing with the deeper causes of depression in this way.

I want to write here about the hardest of those causes for me, personally, to investigate. The nine causes are all different – but this is one that I left, lingering, trying not to look at, for most of my three years of research. I was finally taught about it in San Diego, California, when I met a remarkable scientist named Dr. Vincent Felitti. I have to tell you right at the start though – I found it really painful to investigate this cause. It forced me to reckon with something I had been running from for most of my life. One of the reasons I clung to the theory that my depression was just the result of something going wrong with my brain was, I see now, so I would not have to think about this.

The story of Dr. Felitti’s breakthrough stretches back to the mid-1980s, when it happened almost by accident. At first, it’ll sound like this isn’t a story about depression. But it’s worth following his journey – because it can teach us a lot.

When the patients first came into Felitti’s office, some of them found it hard to fit through the door. They were in the most severe stages of obesity, and they were assigned here, to his clinic, as their last chance. Felitti had been commissioned by the medical provider Kaiser Permanente to figure out how to genuinely solve the company’s exploding obesity costs. Start from scratch, they said. Try anything.

One day, Felitti had a maddening simple idea. He asked: What if these severely overweight people simply stopped eating, and lived off the fat stores they’d built up in their bodies – with monitored nutrition supplements – until they were down to a normal weight? What would happen? Cautiously, they tried it, with a lot of medical supervision – and, startlingly, it worked. The patients were shedding weight, and returning to healthy bodies.

“Once the numbers were added up, they seemed unbelievable”

But then something strange happened. In the program, there were some stars ― people who shed incredible amounts of weight, and the medical team ― and all their friends ― expected these people to react with joy, but the people who did best were often thrown into a brutal depression, or panic, or rage. Some of them became suicidal. Without their bulk, they felt unbelievably vulnerable. They often fled the program, gorged on fast food, and put their weight back on very fast.

Felitti was baffled ― until he talked with one 28-year-old woman. In 51 weeks, Felitti had taken her down from 408 pounds to 132 pounds. Then ― quite suddenly, for no reason anyone could see ― she put on 37 pounds in the space of a few weeks. Before long, she was back above 400 pounds. So Felitti asked her gently what had changed when she started to lose weight. It seemed mysterious to both of them. They talked for a long time. There was, she said eventually, one thing. When she was obese, men never hit on her ― but when she got down to a healthy weight, for the first time in a long time, she was propositioned by a man. She fled, and right away began to eat compulsively, and she couldn’t stop.

This was when Felitti thought to ask a question he hadn’t asked before. When did you start to put on weight? She thought about the question. When she was 11 years old, she said. So he asked: Was there anything else that happened in your life when you were 11? Well, she replied ― that was when my grandfather began to rape me.

As Felitti spoke to the 183 people in the program, he found 55 percent had been sexually abused. One woman said she put on weight after she was raped because “overweight is overlooked, and that’s the way I need to be.” It turned out many of these women had been making themselves obese for an unconscious reason: to protect themselves from the attention of men, who they believed would hurt them. Felitti suddenly realized: “What we had perceived as the problem ― major obesity ― was in fact, very frequently, the solution to problems that the rest of us knew nothing about.”

This insight led Felitti to launch a massive program of research, funded by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. He wanted to discover how all kinds of childhood trauma affect us as adults. He administered a simple questionnaire to 17,000 ordinary patients in San Diego, who were were coming just for general health care – anything from a headache to a broken leg. It asked if any of 10 bad things had happened to you as a kid, like being neglected, or emotionally abused. Then it asked if you had any of 10 psychological problems, like obesity or depression or addiction. He wanted to see what the matchup was.

Once the numbers were added up, they seemed unbelievable. Childhood trauma caused the risk of adult depression to explode. If you had seven categories of traumatic event as a child, you were 3,100 percent more likely to attempt to commit suicide as an adult, and more than 4,000 percent more likely to be an injecting drug user.

After I had one of my long, probing conversations with Dr. Felitti about this, I walked to the beach in San Diego shaking, and spat into the ocean. He was forcing me to think about a dimension of my depression I did not want to confront. When I was a kid, my mother was ill and my dad was in another country, and in this chaos, I experienced some extreme acts of violence from an adult: I was strangled with an electrical cord, among other acts. I had tried to seal these memories away, to shutter them in my mind. I had refused to contemplate that they were playing out in my adult life.

Why do so many people who experience violence in childhood feel the same way? Why does it lead many of them to self-destructive behavior, like obesity, or hard-core addiction, or suicide? I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. I have a theory – though I want to stress that this next part is going beyond the scientific evidence discovered by Felitti and the CDC, and I can’t say for sure that it’s true.

“If it’s your fault, it’s — at some strange level — under your control”

When you’re a child, you have very little power to change your environment. You can’t move away, or force somebody to stop hurting you. So, you have two choices. You can admit to yourself that you are powerless ― that at any moment, you could be badly hurt, and there’s simply nothing you can do about it. Or you can tell yourself it’s your fault. If you do that, you actually gain some power ― at least in your own mind. If it’s your fault, then there’s something you can do that might make it different. You aren’t a pinball being smacked around a pinball machine. You’re the person controlling the machine. You have your hands on the dangerous levers. In this way, just like obesity protected those women from the men they feared would rape them, blaming yourself for your childhood traumas protects you from seeing how vulnerable you were and are. You can become the powerful one. If it’s your fault, it’s ― at some strange level ― under your control.

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Image credits: iStock

But that comes at a cost. If you were responsible for being hurt, then at some level, you have to think you deserved it. A person who thinks they deserved to be injured as a child isn’t going to think they deserve much as an adult, either. This is no way to live. But it’s a misfiring of the thing that made it possible for you to survive at an earlier point in your life.

But it was what Dr. Felitti discovered next that most helped me. When ordinary patients, responding to his questionnaire, noted that they had experienced childhood trauma, he got their doctors to do something when the patients next came in for care. He got them to say something like, “I see you went through this bad experience as a child. I am sorry this happened to you. Would you like to talk about it?”

Felitti wanted to see if being able to discuss this trauma with a trusted authority figure, and being told it was not your fault, would help to release people’s shame. What happened next was startling. Just being able to discuss the trauma led to a huge fall in future illnesses ― there was a 35-percent reduction in their need for medical care over the following year. For the people who were referred to more extensive help, there was a fall of more than 50 percent. One elderly woman ― who had described being raped as a child ― wrote a letter later, saying: “Thank you for asking … I feared I would die, and no one would ever know what had happened.”

The act of releasing your shame is – in itself – healing. So I went back to people I trusted, and I began to talk about what had happened to me when I was younger. Far from shaming me, far from thinking it showed I was broken, they showed love, and helped me to grieve for what I had gone through.

“If you find your work meaningless and you feel you have no control over it, you are far more likely to become depressed”

As I listened back over the tapes of my long conversations with Felitti, it struck me that if he had just told people what my doctor told me – that their brains were broken, this was why they were so distressed, and the only solution was to be drugged – they may never have been able to understand the deeper causes of their problem, and they would never have been released from them.

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Image credits: iStock

The more I investigated depression and anxiety, the more I found that, far from being caused by a spontaneously malfunctioning brain, depression and anxiety are mostly being caused by events in our lives. If you find your work meaningless and you feel you have no control over it, you are far more likely to become depressed. If you are lonely and feel that you can’t rely on the people around you to support you, you are far more likely to become depressed. If you think life is all about buying things and climbing up the ladder, you are far more likely to become depressed. If you think your future will be insecure, you are far more likely to become depressed. I started to find a whole blast of scientific evidence that depression and anxiety are not caused in our skulls, but by the way many of us are being made to live. There are real biological factors, like your genes, that can make you significantly more sensitive to these causes, but they are not the primary drivers.

And that led me to the scientific evidence that we have to try to solve our depression and anxiety crises in a very different way (alongside chemical anti-depressants, which should of course remain on the table).

To do that, we need to stop seeing depression and anxiety as an irrational pathology, or a weird misfiring of brain chemicals. They are terribly painful – but they make sense. Your pain is not an irrational spasm. It is a response to what is happening to you. To deal with depression, you need to deal with its underlying causes. On my long journey, I learned about seven different kinds of anti-depressants – ones that are about stripping out the causes, rather than blunting the symptoms. Releasing your shame is only the start.

One day, one of Dr. Felitti’s colleagues, Dr. Robert Anda, told me something I have been thinking about ever since.

When people are behaving in apparently self-destructive ways, “it’s time to stop asking what’s wrong with them,” he said, “and time to start asking what happened to them.”

More info: Johann’s Book

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Writer and journalist. The author of "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions."

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Writer and journalist. The author of "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions."

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What do you think ?

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Hari Onago 6 years ago

I thank the author for his contribution; imo, any discussion about mental health is positive and helps to fight the stigma associated to it. However, I fail to see what is revolutionary about his input here. Depression and anxiety, as being caused by exogenous and endogenous factors, has been discussed since I can remember. Of course a traumatic event, particularly in your developing years, will dramatically increase the chances of developing mental issues later in life. I also don't understand why an exogenous cause (prolonged or intense trauma, like sexual or physical abuse, bullying, a personal loss, etc.), cannot lead to a chemical alteration in your brain. Thus, creating also the endogenous factor: the chemical imbalance. Both are not incompatible.

58points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

Thank you for that! Let's also remember that most people who suffer depression had no childhood trauma at all.

19points

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Debbie Andersson 6 years ago

It is mentioned in that part with job, that if you can´t control a situation that is current, you can also get depression, like a job that feels meaningless, I think the importance of the post is for people with depression to feel somewhat empowered, psycologists and doctors are quick with perscribing antidepressants without seemingly concerned at all, more like "Ugh another pain in the a*s person with depression, here have some pills, go away", so it´s more of a sense of community rather then any new information.

1point

Jonathan Hiller 6 years ago

I think you've helped state why this article is important. It isn't new information, yet conventional psychiatry is quick to ignore circumstances in an individual's life and prescribe medication for a 'hereditary chemical imbalance'. I've worked as a clinician and seen this over and over. I think Johann's curation of research is so important because it requires us, in the midst of a worldview almost incapable of self-reflection, to stop and ask, "what are we doing collectively that is making people so sick?" It would be great if the psychiatric community were to consider exogenous and endogenous factors closer to 50/50. I'd toss out a wild guess that it's more like 10/90 currently. Let's keep up the dialogue :)

0points

William Miller III 6 years ago

agree, my child was diagnosed at age 5 with anxiety and depression, pretty much kindergarten was his trauma, antidepressants, Occupation therapy and Counseling have helped a lot but all 3 are ongoing

0points

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

The author never said they aren't incompatible. He was just saying that the root cause of depression is nearly always in trauma. And the author's input isn't meant to be revolutionary. It's really just a reminder of the truth.

0points

Fake Haak 6 years ago

I’m actually flabbergasted that any of this is regarded as new information. Is there such a big difference between US and European psychiatry? Here in the Netherlands talking about what troubles you and digging out the roots of your depression is ALWAYS the first step. Medication is mostly viewed as an aid to help you overcome the effects of depression in your daily life, not as the solution.

41points

Justin Dodson 6 years ago

Seriously. Bored Panda finds the most useless things to say "groundbreaking" or "new information" about

5points

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The Cappy 6 years ago

And I am, in turn, am a bit surprised that someone in the Netherlands can't tell the difference between a psychiatrist and a psych patient. Psychiatrists in the US are fully aware of the complex nature of depression and know that different people have different causes for their problem. Here, as there, medications are not advanced as a be-all and end-all. In patients with severe depression without psychotic features, the APA recommends that psychotherapy should not be used alone; but in all lesser stages, the role of psychotherapy is well regarded. Google "American guidelines for treatment of depressive". Having said which, it's very clear that there is a chemical role in depression in many patients, which is why you can't tell depressed people to just get over it.

3points

Shari Custer 6 years ago

It's not new information at all. This is the result of people becoming writers and having their pieces shared despite not being well-read in the topic. Everybody who works with mental health knows this already and I'm shocked this is being shared by aggregators as if it were a revelation. The problem is that you can't go to a health professional to cure the causes. You can't write a prescription for a new job or a way out of poverty, so you write one addressing the impact of those things on the body. Everybody knows this, except apparently this author who thinks she's reinvented sliced bread.

2points

Zwergerl 6 years ago

We must live in different Netherlands though. A friend of mine was basically left alone with her "mysterious" unexplainable chronic pain and an almost constant "sadness" or feeling of isolation, which even lost her her job. She has suffered from this for more than 2 years by now. They gave her several pain killers (one of which was also an anti-depressant) which all failed to show any improvement. She went through a myriad of tests at the hospital over the course of months. Never once did they bring up the possiblilty that there might be an underlying problem which is not "physical". However she got rid of several self-destructive habits lately and basically started caring for herself and her health for the first time in her life, instead of being the doormat for everyone in her family, and she is doing sooo much better now. So sadly in her case there was zero awareness for the roots of depression and mental problems.

1point

Mateusz Krakowski 6 years ago

I am on prescribed antidepressants. It has helped me a lot. Hope noone will stop taking it because some article on boredpand.com. Period.

22points

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

He didn't say to stop taking the antidepressants. He just said that the path to healing also involves opening up to others about personal trauma.

6points

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Cat Anya 6 years ago

wow. 1. please don't click bait. 2. for those of use who weren't traumatized by a childhood incident or do not have a meaningless job, it could/may be/is a malfunction of brain synapses which therefore can be construed as you trying to make us feel guilty. hey. maybe we are surrounded by idiots. maybe we aren't. maybe it we are and have a chemical imbalance. maybe we aren't and have a chemical imbalance. whatever. I'm done. this article just ticked me off. before-you...fa254c.jpg

15points

Master Markus 6 years ago

Yeah, I thought it was awful clickbaity, and dangerously close to "woo" territory. HOWEVER, SPEAKING OF GETTING TICKED OFF: That picture: 1. I highly doubt that's a Freud quote 2. F**k Freud, he was way worse and more woo than THIS.

9points

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Master Markus 6 years ago

I spent the whole thing looking for the revolutionary information. Also, while it might not be down to "chemical imbalances", certainly it's SOMETHING chemical, as ... that's how the brain works.

11points

T. Merritt 6 years ago

The whole thing sounded like an infomercial. I thought for sure there would be a link to another site to sell whatever he's pushing.

7points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

He has a new book out that he's trying to flog...and it's nonsense. If someone had found "the" cause of something as incredibly complex as depression, it would be front page news all over the world. It's not. Because it is, and I'm being charitable here, incomplete and simplistic.

5points

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Jessica Stohr 6 years ago

Not to be over dramatic, but this article totally opened up my eyes about the issues that have probably caused my obesity and depression so thank you!! Cause I thankfully was never abused, but I definitely gained some weight to "protect myself" from a guy. Which I kind of already knew, but it's helpful to learn that many ppl go through the same thought process and issues.

7points

Jessica Stohr 6 years ago

*protect myself emotionally*

1point

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Chamel_Camel 6 years ago

I have a question; what about the young people who have not experienced trauma in any way? I know that in high school I had a friend who suffered from depression and she had a very supportive and helpful family and friends. I don't think that her depression was caused by childhood trauma because she practically was still a child. If anyone can explain to me what else can cause this that would be really helpful because I wasn't able to understand it back then.

6points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

MOST people who have depression have never had any childhood trauma.

3points

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Paul Osborne 6 years ago

I suffer from anxiety. I didn't realise I had it until I was going to be made redundant a couple of years ago, then it really hit hard. I had a happy childhood and have been happy enough as an adult. The anxiety comes and goes, there doesn't appear to be any one trigger so for me at least I think it is chemical.

6points

Tobias Meiner 6 years ago

Nothing described here is new to any competent psychiatrist or anyone with at least some medical knowledge. Depression is considered a complex condition that has _both_ endo- and exogenous cause at least since 1950s, and two-pronged therapy is a standard approach since 1980s (especially in Europe, as purely pharmaceutical therapy is not prevalent 'across the Western world' but remains the domain of USA). Sure, sometimes the problem is purely endogenous, but these cases are quite rare. The idea of 'drugs fixing your broken brain' gravely inaccurate (any doctor saying this should be treated with utmost suspicion), as even most recent medicines do not heal in any way more than insulin shots heal the pancreas. They but they 'stabilise' brain allowing for other forms of therapy or supportive action (or increasing their efficiency).

3points

GlassOfWater 6 years ago

There has been debate about the cause of depression/anxiety for a long time. Hence, there are various treatment methods to accomodate for the type of depression/anxiety. I'm talking about counselling and medication. Counselling is deemed more helpful if environmental factors are believed to be a major contributor (e.g. stress) as the individual can work to overcome and deal with these factors. Meds are to help with chemical side of depression/anxiety. Both methods are often used as treatment anyway as the cause is still in debate. If environmental factors are considered to be the main cause of depression/anxiety for an individual, some doctors may hold off prescribing you with medication (mostly to avoid the side affects), especially if the person is young.

3points

GlassOfWater 6 years ago

I guess all I'm trying to say is that use whatever method works for you!

3points

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BusLady 6 years ago

There is a condition that many people deal with. Adult survivors of childhood abuse. Not sure of the exact name. People who suffered severe childhood abuse are far more likely to develop self destructive behavior. Examples: eating disorders, substance abuse, criminal behaviour, high risk activities, mental illness, addictive behaviours, I could go on and on. I grew up with 4 siblings in a violent, abusive home. But I'm the only one who developed depression. I've been on the same meds since 2000. It has helped me a great deal. Why would a Dr keep you on the same meds for 10 years if its not helping? You may need to try different meds to find what works for you. This story does sound phoney to me. Clickbait?

2points

Melody Lanzatella 6 years ago

This author is talking about "childhood trauma", that means he is talking about pretty much EVERYBODY! Of course, some childrens trauma is far worse than anothers! For example, I was sexually molested by my stepfather, I was ALSO bullied at school. Both of those things seemed equally bad to me! They were BOTH traumatic! In fact, some people have strong minds some are weaker. Maybe to a girl in my class, her mother yelling at her seemed AS BAD to her, and caused her as much trauma as my sexually abuse! WHO is to measure exactly WHAT AMOUNT of trauma, is ENOUGH trauma???!!! It is all RELATIVE!! What is HORRIFIC to me, may not affect someone else at all! In effect, the MAJORITY of people then, should suffer from depression and anxiety! This "blanket diagnosis" is FAR too simple! Too many other things MUST be taken into consideration! Depression can be hereditary as well. My mother had it, I have it and ALL FOUR of my grown children have it!! NOW WHAT??

2points

Betsy Braddock 6 years ago

I know it's a sick sad reaction, but I reacted the same way when I was raped. I was in the army so I couldn't gain much weight, but even a little extra weight is enough to feel somewhat safer.

2points

Clare E 6 years ago

http://thequietus.com/articles/23858-johann-hari-plagiarism-mental-health-bad-science

2points

Clare E 6 years ago

Suggest you all google Johann Hari's past before listening too closely to him...

2points

The Cappy 6 years ago

You were startled to discover that your overly simple view of a complicated disorder was too simple. And you reacted by oversimplifying in the wrong direction. World without end.

2points

Corrine Ramirez 6 years ago

Close.... your very close. This is a great start though. I'm glad this worked for you, but for some this still isn't the answer. This illness is so complex, so versatile, so destructive, unbiased, and dark that to pin point a resolution as a "one size fits all", we will never achieve that goal. Each case is unique. Like snowflakes of the soul no two will ever be the same. Until we can understand why and how the snowflake came to be there will never be an answer. Love is the only cure all. Love... love is the answer to all things. The absences of, or the over abundance, the varied stages. We must look to what type of love was missing or present and how can we heal that inner child? How can we heal that suppressed memory? How can we deem ourselves worthy of the love we long to have? How do we create that peace of mind that says... I am loved... I am worthy of love, I love myself, I love others as if they were a part of me, I am love and that is all there is to be.

2points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

No. Your doctor is a quack. He is not a psychologist. He is not a psychiatrist. He is not a neurologist. He has had no training based in any branch of mental health. He is an internist - the guy you see when your gall bladder is acting up. ..... REAL scientists know better than to use only one study of a relatively small group to draw sweeping conclusions. .... Millions of people suffer from depression. MOST of them had normal, ordinary childhoods. ..... This "doctor" decided that he wanted to make a splash and forced his study to fit his conclusions. .... If it were not for antidepressants, millions of people would be dead. We KNOW - and have for decades - that depression runs in families, and that there is a definite genetic connection. .... I'm sorry you had doctors who were incompetent when you were treating your own depression, but then you CHOSE to continue seeing them.

2points

Zwergerl 6 years ago

Not diasagreeing with you about the questionable sources for this theory in the article. But...yes, while depression often runs in families, ...when your parents are neglectful or s****y parents who make you feel useless and like your emotions don't matter, chances are high, you will do the same to your own children. Simply because you don't know any different. And so on, and so on. Just because something runs in families doesn't have to mean it's a genetic thing. Invisible (emotional) abuse IS a big issue, and it gets repeated over generations, because people think they "had a normal childhood", "it didn't kill me", ...

1point

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Maria L. 6 years ago

No,just another person with a medical degree talking to someone who hasn't a clue. Have you even looked up Dr. Feletti and his many accomplishments ? Apparently not or you wouldn't be talking out of your a**e. Not married to him, just part of the medical community that finds you offensive

-1point

Maria Leahy 6 years ago

You are misinformed on the training of doctors which has me believe you have no medical training whatsoever.. ...an internist EARNS a medical degree which includes training in psychology. And you are making sweeping generalizations "millions of people suffer from depression. Most of them had normal, ordinary childhoods" is staggering in its ignorance. Simply said. DO YOU TREAT PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION??? Your statements clearly indicate you do not. Sounds like you're the hack.

-1point

Dominic 6 years ago

This article should be read with scepticism here’s why : https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

2points

CelSlade 6 years ago

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Monilip 6 years ago

Just curious - if you are a researcher why do you post your thesis on Bored Panda instead of science magazins?

2points

Mika N 6 years ago

The author said we should be trying to solve depression in "a very different way (alongside chemical anti-depressants, which should of course remain on the table)." I know that because I struggle with depression and so I did read through the whole article (and some of the linked study) with great interest. It wasn't all new thoughts to me, but helped to confirm some things I had felt might be true about myself and my past so I really did find it helpful.

0points

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Maria L. 6 years ago

Ok for all the uninformed people and ignorant comments I just can't stand, please see ACE study by CDC. This large scale study of more than 17,000 patients clearly showed that adverse childhood experiences were common, had profound negative effect on health and well-being including but not limited to depression. These findings have been published in over 70 major medical and public health journals. One of the many doctors involved in this study was Dr Felillti who was referenced in this article. It annoys me that a doctor that has been in practice for more years than some of the people posting idiotic comments have been alive, a WORLD KNOWN EXPERT on childhood trauma is derided as "just an internist ", head of Department of Preventive Medicine, which by the way, provided medical evaluations for OVER 1.1 million patients. But yeah, let's take the anecdotal, uneducated views of people who have never treated any patients in their lifetime- you know who you are!

1point

Susie Perry Pedersen 6 years ago

Yes many people who suffer from depression and/or anxiety have had some sort of trauma in their past, but not all of them. It has also been proven that depression and anxiety can run in the gene pool in families as well. It would be reckless to suggest that anyone should not take their med.s because of your philosophy, as it is only one-sided and depression and anxiety are multi-faceted diseases which need a multi faceted approach. Plus your explanation does not cover people who suffer from things like bipolar disorder or things of that nature. Mental illness is a serious business and should be handled by the professionals. When in doubt, get a second opinion, that's what I did when I was suicidal and I think it saved my life. I am on several medications now and am able to lead a seemingly "normal" life and am quite happy with minimal side effects. Not all medications are bad or should be looked at that way. They are produced for a reason, some people really need that help, peop

1point

CelSlade 6 years ago

I want to thank the OP for writing this. Not to go into too much detail regarding my own experiences, but it absolutely ties in with everything being discussed here. I actually remember when I started gaining weight at age 14 thinking 'this way no man will ever see me'. Sadly, that didn't stop future abuse. And I absolutely have to agree - it is only when I went for therapy and faced all the horrible things I was hiding from myself that I was able to overcome depression (after 20 years of being disabled by it and taking every anti-depressant under the sun). A pleasant side-effect of this is that I am, finally, able to shed the weight I was hiding behind all these years. I'm not afraid of being seen anymore. I hope anyone who has been told by their doctors that they are broken and only chemicals can fix them will insist on speaking to a therapist instead. I had to fight to get the help I needed as no-one was doing it for me. Get the treatment you need.

1point

Tomás Lacerda 6 years ago

An article from 2008 and the title is "Has been discovered" suggesting that is recent. Click bait.

1point

Monica Carvalho 6 years ago

Thought-provoking article. Thank you Johann Hari - I've just ordered your book on Amazon! <3

1point

BusLady 6 years ago

Ca-- CHING!

0points

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Harish Kumar 6 years ago

Thanks for the awareness about depression, depression is a silent killer where most of them are struggling a lot, Learn and avoid depression to live a happy life.

0points

Jonathan Hiller 6 years ago

If you were triggered by the title, or even by some of the content in this article, I would encourage you to read Johann's book. It's incredibly well-researched.

0points

Drive Bee 6 years ago

There was never any scientific proof for the theory of "chemical imbalance" causing depression; doctors liked it because it seemed to make sense and it did not put blame on the patients for their condition, which is important. There are some very good youtube videos by Robert Whittaker on this subject.

0points

Drive Bee 6 years ago

This puts me in mind of Van Der Kolk's work on trauma in childhood and how it plays out in all of life. There seems to be an aversion in much of the psychiatric community, though, to recognizing this root cause. I don't understand that.

0points

Muhammad Ilham Afdillah 6 years ago

I'm never sure how to tell mine. Because it wasn't one event of trauma, but instead, the constant and ongoing instability that I've been feeling from my father. He's awkward, anxious and has low self esteem. I believe we inherit some kinda problem with our cognitive I believe from his mother. See, if I talk like this, it feels like I'm pointing and blaming people but I genuinely want to study my condition. I don't have a scientific background due to academic and learning difficulties. I was ended up diagnosed with Bipolar dan depression by another doctor. I feel like I have never started my life and 'm almost 30 now. And I live in a south east asian country that is not mature enough to talk about mental health in open discussions. I feel like I'm living between a crazy person and a world heavy with conservative traditional values and conformity. I honestly don't know what to do. I have been suicidal the last couple of months and I can't even tell anyone.

0points

ChericeCraft 6 years ago

Thank you. My doctors keep trying to give me antidepressants, but I've refused. I have had to stare them in the eye many times and say, "Being depressed is a perfectly normal reaction to my life." They are surprised by that and I don't remember every getting a response. If I did, it was meaningless. Plus, my sadness comes in waves. Sometimes the wave lasts a year or more, but it still passes. I am also worried that being on antidepressants will allow my logical mind to convince me to finally free myself from existence.

0points

Melissa Caywood 6 years ago

www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

0points

Raven 6 years ago

THC has been the only thing that has ever helped me. give me pills and I will eat them all. I can actually regulate my cannabis intake easily and effectively. No one ever wants to hear what happened to me in multiple parts in my life. I struggled for 20 years after gradeschool. I was a prodigy child too. Then again starting at 18 I was being abused again real hard by someone I desperately wanted to be my friend and claimed they were. Its just taken time for me but the amount of time has held me back so hard in life. Now I am at a point where I dont even have identification and have lived off the grid out of fear for nearly a decade. I technically graduated highschool with a sixth grade education. Mine was just sort of better than others because I obsessively memorized books word for word. That was a thing I started in kindergarten. I have a good support system now and someone that cares about me and really, thats probably all I really needed. someone to show me compassion.

0points

Cyril Viguié 6 years ago

Thank you.

0points

Morgiana 6 years ago

This post doesn't tell the whole story. Namely, traumatising events lead to malfunctioning brain development. Meaning some regions will be used more and other regions less than in "average", healthy brain. And so there really is a neurotransmitter (brain chemicals) imbalance. But ofcourse drugs aren't a permanent solution, because thy only fill up the dopamine, without "healing" the root of the cause. Hence psychotherapy is the number 1 adviced treatment. Unfortunately almost all countries have a huge waitlist for visits to a psychiater, and then there's the issue with insurance and payment. And that's why doctors rather prescribe meds, it's faster, easier and constantly promoted (by pharma companies).

0points

Rhonnda Oliver 6 years ago

My first thought once I figured out where it was going was 'state the obvious much?' But maybe it'll reach some people who've not heard it yet. the reality is, though, that too many general practitioners are prescribing drugs when they should be sending the patients to specialists. The real causes of depression and anxiety are as varied as the patients and there is no one be all end all cure. Youneed to see a

0points

Jenn 6 years ago

such a great read, no one asks why just try to think of a fix before they know anything or just ignore it........so many comparisons whether it's physical or mental

0points

Cyndi Burke 6 years ago

This is bunk.

0points

Yllka Zotkaj 6 years ago

I’m glad for the author that he found the power and the honesty to face the real problem, not everyone can. In the realm of the hungry gosts a book written by Gabor Mate can be an eye opener in this issue.

0points

Mary Andrews 6 years ago

We in the U.S. -- especially in the heartland -- like to be strong and successful. Starting a conversation about depression and anxiety is difficult, and forming support groups moreso. What if someone sees me go in? I'm a messed-up loser or worse. I've worked hard within my church and community to bring some of Johann's insights to light. I am a depressive person with good coping skills. I hope to meet up with others brave and curious enough to share a few dark moments and chart a better path. The trouble with assuming we "know all this" is we don't practice what we preach. It stays trapped on the page more often than not. I applaud those like Johann who have had active conversations with their past. It's all to the good.

0points

Chris Winnaar 6 years ago

Dr. Vincent Felitti's talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ns8ko9-ljU

0points

Edy Eko 6 years ago

Is there any more of this s**t? A longer one? I would love to have it, as living in third world countries assessment to mental health is considered a shame itself rather than a thing to resolve

0points

Chris Watson 6 years ago

I became severely depressed at 13 , and done with menopause. ''Twas all hormones for me. Bastards.

0points

Jessica Kokan 6 years ago

This is incredibly intriguing, I just wish I was able to view all of the text without it being cut off

0points

Romenriel 6 years ago

This article is genius. It's genius how it repeates stuffs which you can read in every book and every website are a thing

0points

Romenriel 6 years ago

Repair: as it had been a thing.

0points

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Catlady6000 6 years ago

Dear God, THANK YOU for writing this!

0points

Bobbi Newell 6 years ago

Somewhere, years ago, I read that depression is anger turned inward; it only halfway made sense until just now. There are so many pieces to the puzzle that is depression, and the chemical aspect is only part of it. I'm glad to see more attention being paid to personal background. I look forward to checking out your book!

0points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

That was a line from M*A*S*H. It was a well-written television show, but somehow I don't think that the sit-com writers of the time were medical experts.

0points

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Maria K 6 years ago

This was very interesting! Definitely sending it to my family and friends!!

0points

Gregory Warren 6 years ago

I wish people would write science related articles in essay format instead of like a short story. We don't need inner dialog, to know the motivations of the protagonist, or a plot. In a meandering annectodotal style, he doesn't get to the point until around 1,800 words into a ~2000 word article. And then basically comes to conclusion "depression and anxiety are mostly being caused by events in our lives." The cure to depression then, is to just get over it?

0points

Gregory Warren 6 years ago

OMG I wish writers would write science related articles in essay format instead like a short story. We don't need inner dialog or a plot. In a meandering anecdotal style, he doesn't get to the point until around 1,800 words into a 2000 word article. And the conclusion, "depression and anxiety are mostly being caused by events in our lives" So the cure for depression is.. just get over it.

0points

Terry Sanders 6 years ago

I read the article with great interest and intuitively agree with the basic premise. However, I fail to see how this not a 'rediscovery' of Freud's foundational thesis. Those who are capable of simply answering Dr Felitti's direct question wouldn't be in need of the long and often prohibitively-expensive ordeal of psychoanalysis. Those unable to confront their past, who are likely in the majority, are not nearly so fortunate and resort to myriad means of relief and/or reactive indulgence.

0points

Jonathan Eatsalot 6 years ago

to depressing to read

0points

katarina 6 years ago

thank you, johann!

0points

Aidan Edwards 6 years ago

hi clinical depression is genetic and is actually a chemical imbalance in the brain this is bull

-1point

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

And your evidence is...?

0points

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Lindy Martyn 6 years ago

Thankyou Johann for your insightful honesty.Makes sense to me.Depression is hell on earth, I wish relief for anyone who is suffering. You are not alone in this world, believe it or not 💖💙💚💛

-1point

Хорват Фабијан 6 years ago

Ask yourselves, where was depression in history? My grandmother grew up under WW2 bombs, after that she walked 7 killometers to school, be it +40 or -15 °C. Her father was taken away in front of her eyes at the age of 4 never to come back. She was poor, often sick. Yet she managed to get an education, good life and a relativeley wealthy family (grandfather was also poor). As a 13 year old he was mobilised by what was an enemy army for him, then he managed to escape. When he got to high school, they tryed to get him to prison... for falling in love with the same girl which the principle was in love with. He escaped that to only to find out that his father is almost dead and that he has to stop school to take care of his family. Those two people never were depressed. So if you are looking for a true cause of depression... it's either cultural or biological. People are being spoiled since day one, they want, and when they can't get or when they loose... they break inside. The end.

-2points

Maria L. 6 years ago

How do you know if these two people never were depressed? Did you medically interview them? Depression had been(and still is) culturally given negative attitudes whereas if you are or it is noted in the family, no one talks about it never mind acknowledging its existence. Wars have always damaged peoples minds, it has been documented under various names - solider's heart, battle fatigue, shell shocked, Even homesickness and nostalgia were used in the 1600-1700.

0points

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Phoebe The Great 6 years ago

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Alia G. 6 years ago

2points

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POST

Hari Onago 6 years ago

58points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

Thank you for that! Let's also remember that most people who suffer depression had no childhood trauma at all.

19points

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Debbie Andersson 6 years ago

1point

Jonathan Hiller 6 years ago

0points

William Miller III 6 years ago

agree, my child was diagnosed at age 5 with anxiety and depression, pretty much kindergarten was his trauma, antidepressants, Occupation therapy and Counseling have helped a lot but all 3 are ongoing

0points

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

0points

Fake Haak 6 years ago

41points

Justin Dodson 6 years ago

Seriously. Bored Panda finds the most useless things to say "groundbreaking" or "new information" about

5points

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The Cappy 6 years ago

3points

Shari Custer 6 years ago

2points

Zwergerl 6 years ago

1point

Mateusz Krakowski 6 years ago

I am on prescribed antidepressants. It has helped me a lot. Hope noone will stop taking it because some article on boredpand.com. Period.

22points

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

He didn't say to stop taking the antidepressants. He just said that the path to healing also involves opening up to others about personal trauma.

6points

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Cat Anya 6 years ago

15points

Master Markus 6 years ago

9points

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Master Markus 6 years ago

I spent the whole thing looking for the revolutionary information. Also, while it might not be down to "chemical imbalances", certainly it's SOMETHING chemical, as ... that's how the brain works.

11points

T. Merritt 6 years ago

The whole thing sounded like an infomercial. I thought for sure there would be a link to another site to sell whatever he's pushing.

7points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

5points

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Jessica Stohr 6 years ago

7points

Jessica Stohr 6 years ago

*protect myself emotionally*

1point

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Chamel_Camel 6 years ago

6points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

MOST people who have depression have never had any childhood trauma.

3points

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Paul Osborne 6 years ago

6points

Tobias Meiner 6 years ago

3points

GlassOfWater 6 years ago

3points

GlassOfWater 6 years ago

I guess all I'm trying to say is that use whatever method works for you!

3points

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BusLady 6 years ago

2points

Melody Lanzatella 6 years ago

2points

Betsy Braddock 6 years ago

I know it's a sick sad reaction, but I reacted the same way when I was raped. I was in the army so I couldn't gain much weight, but even a little extra weight is enough to feel somewhat safer.

2points

Clare E 6 years ago

http://thequietus.com/articles/23858-johann-hari-plagiarism-mental-health-bad-science

2points

Clare E 6 years ago

Suggest you all google Johann Hari's past before listening too closely to him...

2points

The Cappy 6 years ago

You were startled to discover that your overly simple view of a complicated disorder was too simple. And you reacted by oversimplifying in the wrong direction. World without end.

2points

Corrine Ramirez 6 years ago

2points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

2points

Zwergerl 6 years ago

1point

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Maria L. 6 years ago

-1point

Maria Leahy 6 years ago

-1point

Dominic 6 years ago

This article should be read with scepticism here’s why : https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

2points

CelSlade 6 years ago

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Monilip 6 years ago

Just curious - if you are a researcher why do you post your thesis on Bored Panda instead of science magazins?

2points

Mika N 6 years ago

0points

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Maria L. 6 years ago

1point

Susie Perry Pedersen 6 years ago

1point

CelSlade 6 years ago

1point

Tomás Lacerda 6 years ago

An article from 2008 and the title is "Has been discovered" suggesting that is recent. Click bait.

1point

Monica Carvalho 6 years ago

Thought-provoking article. Thank you Johann Hari - I've just ordered your book on Amazon! <3

1point

BusLady 6 years ago

Ca-- CHING!

0points

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Harish Kumar 6 years ago

Thanks for the awareness about depression, depression is a silent killer where most of them are struggling a lot, Learn and avoid depression to live a happy life.

0points

Jonathan Hiller 6 years ago

If you were triggered by the title, or even by some of the content in this article, I would encourage you to read Johann's book. It's incredibly well-researched.

0points

Drive Bee 6 years ago

0points

Drive Bee 6 years ago

0points

Muhammad Ilham Afdillah 6 years ago

0points

ChericeCraft 6 years ago

0points

Melissa Caywood 6 years ago

www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

0points

Raven 6 years ago

0points

Cyril Viguié 6 years ago

Thank you.

0points

Morgiana 6 years ago

0points

Rhonnda Oliver 6 years ago

0points

Jenn 6 years ago

such a great read, no one asks why just try to think of a fix before they know anything or just ignore it........so many comparisons whether it's physical or mental

0points

Cyndi Burke 6 years ago

This is bunk.

0points

Yllka Zotkaj 6 years ago

0points

Mary Andrews 6 years ago

0points

Chris Winnaar 6 years ago

Dr. Vincent Felitti's talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ns8ko9-ljU

0points

Edy Eko 6 years ago

Is there any more of this s**t? A longer one? I would love to have it, as living in third world countries assessment to mental health is considered a shame itself rather than a thing to resolve

0points

Chris Watson 6 years ago

I became severely depressed at 13 , and done with menopause. ''Twas all hormones for me. Bastards.

0points

Jessica Kokan 6 years ago

This is incredibly intriguing, I just wish I was able to view all of the text without it being cut off

0points

Romenriel 6 years ago

This article is genius. It's genius how it repeates stuffs which you can read in every book and every website are a thing

0points

Romenriel 6 years ago

Repair: as it had been a thing.

0points

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Catlady6000 6 years ago

Dear God, THANK YOU for writing this!

0points

Bobbi Newell 6 years ago

0points

Aunt Messy 6 years ago

That was a line from M*A*S*H. It was a well-written television show, but somehow I don't think that the sit-com writers of the time were medical experts.

0points

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Maria K 6 years ago

This was very interesting! Definitely sending it to my family and friends!!

0points

Gregory Warren 6 years ago

0points

Gregory Warren 6 years ago

0points

Terry Sanders 6 years ago

0points

Jonathan Eatsalot 6 years ago

to depressing to read

0points

katarina 6 years ago

thank you, johann!

0points

Aidan Edwards 6 years ago

hi clinical depression is genetic and is actually a chemical imbalance in the brain this is bull

-1point

Daniel Sipes 6 years ago

And your evidence is...?

0points

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Lindy Martyn 6 years ago

-1point

Хорват Фабијан 6 years ago

-2points

Maria L. 6 years ago

0points

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Phoebe The Great 6 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Alia G. 6 years ago

2points

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The Real Causes Of Depression Have Been Discovered, And They’re Not What You Think

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