Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions

A South African psychiatrist, Dr. Derek Summerfield, went to Cambodia. He investigated how the land mines left around the country from the Vietnam War impacted local individuals’ mental health. When one man became depressed after losing his leg to a land mine, his community gave him a cow, letting him work as a dairy farmer. Hari writes: “It was about the community, together, empowering the depressed person to change his life” (194). Stories like this lead Hari to consider “seven forms of reconnection” (196). These are “tentative first steps,” but at least “represent points on a compass” (196).

Hari tells the story of Nuriye Cengiz, an elderly woman who used a wheelchair and lived in Kotti, a poor neighborhood in Berlin. When Nuriye became depressed after being threatened with eviction, her neighbors reached out to help her. This happened even though the neighborhood was full of people from different backgrounds, including gay people, “left-wing squatters and rebels” (200), and working-class Turkish migrants like Nuriye.

A group of her neighbors started a protest, demanding that Nuriye be allowed to stay in her home. One protestor argued: “We have a right to the city, because we built this neighborhood” (202).