Depression News: Life Experiences, not Chemical Imbalance, Cause the Mental Health Issue, Author Claims
While depression is said to be caused by an emotional imbalance in the brain, an author has claimed that it may not be entirely true.
In an article written on the Huffington Post, author Johann Hari claims that depression may not exactly be a result of the chemical imbalance in the brain. Rather, the author, whose latest book is titled "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solution," suggests that depression is primarily due to a person's experiences.
"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...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," goes a portion of Hari's claims in his Huffington Post article.
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However, some can't help but be skeptical about Hari's claims on depression and what causes it. As excerpts from his book "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solution" have already been published online, some can't help but question his statements despite having the best of intentions on about writing depression. For some, Hari should not have cherry-picked evidence to support his statements in his book about depression as, after all, depression afflicts millions of people and must, therefore, involve more thorough, thoughtful, and specific approach.
According to WHO (World Health Organization), depression, which is said to be the leading cause of disability, affects roughly 350 million of people worldwide.
In the USA alone, 16 million people are said to have experienced, at least, one major depressive episode in 2012.
