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

by Johann Hari

It’s a beautiful theory. But John began to wonder—how could this be tested? It turns out there are still some people who live in the way most humans did at earlier stages in our evolution. For example, John learned that in the Dakotas, there’s a very closed, highly religious farming community—a bit like the most fundamentalist wing of the Amish—called the Hutterites. They live off the land, and they work and eat and worship and relax together. Everyone has to cooperate the whole time. (Later in my journey, I went to visit a group like this, as you’ll see.) So John teamed with anthropologists who had been studying the Hutterites14 for years, to figure out how lonely the Hutterites are. There’s one neat way to test it. Anywhere in the world where people describe being lonely, they will also—throughout their sleep—experience more of something called “micro-awakenings.” These are small moments you won’t recall when you wake up, but in which you rise a little from your slumber. All other social animals do the same thing when they’re isolated too. The best theory is that you don’t feel safe going to sleep when you’re lonely, because early humans