Disconnection and Depression

In his book 'Lost Connections' journalist Johann Hari tells the story of a Cambodian rice farmer who suffered depression after stepping on a land mine and losing a leg. Firstly he was given an artificial leg, but he was unable to continue rice farming with his new artificial leg due to pain and discomfort. His depression deepened.

So the local doctors and neighbours got together and bought him a cow, and he started a new life as a dairy farmer. His depression lifted. The Cambodian doctors told a visiting psychiatrist that the cow was an 'anti-depressant' treatment.

The story here is that disconnection from something significant in your life can bring on depression. It could be disconnection from work, it could be disconnection from people close to you like family/friends/partners, or it could be disconnection from your community and activities you love.

In the case of this farmer, an anti-depressant pill, Cognitive Therapy, and mindfulness meditation could be a helpful short-term solution, but in the end, his problem was about his disconnection, and he needed the people around him to help him overcome his disconnection. People who care are the best anti-depressant treatment.