Connections Archives - Books That Inspire

From the New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream, a radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety.

What really causes depression and anxiety – and how can we really solve them? Award-winning journalist Johann Hari suffered from depression since he was a child and started taking antidepressants when he was a teenager. He was told that his problems were caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain. As an adult, trained in the social sciences, he began to investigate whether this was true – and he learned that almost everything we have been told about depression and anxiety is wrong.

Across the world, Hari found social scientists who were uncovering evidence that depression and anxiety are not caused by a chemical imbalance in our brains. In fact, they are largely caused by key problems with the way we live today. Hari’s journey took him from a mind-blowing series of experiments in Baltimore, to an Amish community in Indiana, to an uprising in Berlin.

Once he had uncovered nine real causes of depression and anxiety, they led him to scientists who are discovering seven very different solutions – ones that work. It is an epic journey that will change how we think about one of the biggest crises in our culture today.

Two of the top experts in the field of writing and wellness join with 15 others to show us how writing is used to heal physical illness, emotional trauma, and spiritual pain.
James Pennebaker, who was the first to research the connection between writing and wellness, and Cindy Chung present 25 years of experiments that demonstrate the benefits of writing to heal and point the direction for more studies.
Luciano L’Abate discusses his use of writing and discusses how the techniques can be used to significantly lower health care costs.
Debbie McCulliss shows how she uses writing to engage us, so we are able to examine an experience, compare it to other experiences, and apply the new insights to ourselves.
Leatha Kendrick looks at finding our true voice to lead us to recovery.
Gail Radley presents techniques to move us from feeling like a victim to finding solutions.
Fran Dorf tells how she turned her grief into a best-selling book (Saving Elijah) and shows us how to use fiction to ease our pain.
Emily Simerly gives us six starter chapters to show how we can adapt to our lives.
Belinda Shoemaker proposes that the act of adding craft and style to our writing increases our understanding of what we have written.
Noreen Groover Lape and Kristin N. Taylor continue Shoemaker’s theme by describing their interaction as student and teacher, improving Taylor’s writing and understanding.
Diana M. Raab shares tips about her journaling that we can use to keep our precious insights from slipping away.
Julie Davey shows how we can use the Writing for Wellness program she has been leading for cancer patients at City of Hope for the past seven years.
Sara Baker reminds us that we can write about our hurts in ways that don’t retraumatize us by telling it slant.
Angela Buttimer describes the Cancer Wellness groups she leads at Piedmont Hospital and teaches us how to use some of her techniques.
Austin Bunn describes the Patient Voice Project to teach expressive writing to the chronically ill.
Lara Naughton champions the Voices of Innocence project, which demonstrates how we can help non-writers create written works that aid spiritual and emotional healing.

Tag: Connections

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

Wellness & Writing Connections: Writing for Better Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health