Isolation in Community

Depression is a disease that hits us both as individuals and as a society.  See Undoing Depression, Richard O'Connor, PhD, p. 303
(see also http://www.undoingdepression.com/)


Some common causes for depression are

•Dangerous or unsafe environment in family
•Being neglected from close one in early life
•Traumatic experiences late in life
•Loss of job
•Death of loved one
•Financial problems resulting in extreme stress
•Poor self-confidence
•Side effects of some other medicine
•Frequently feeling physical illness
•Feeling homesickness
•Hormonal changes always affecting mood
•Frequent drug or alcohol use.

However, another cause leading to depression is social isolation in community. The author asserts that depression is tied to the many cultural changes in our society today that have contributed to a decline in our sense of community. Visiting among neighbors has dropped drastically in the last 50 years. For example, before air conditioning, homes were built with front porches where family members gathered in the evenings and neighbors stopped by to visit. Once homes were air conditioned, families moved inside, eliminating the evening front porch socializing.


Changes in how we spend our time have damaged family life. It is rare that both parents are home at the same time since both parents have to work. Only 5% of families have a mother at home to care for the children after school. Each year, Americans work 3-1/2 weeks longer than Japanese, 6 weeks more than the British, and 12 weeks more than the Germans.


There is also little human interaction daily at our places of work.

Just at the time when social scientists have demonstrated that intimacy, community and trust are the basic elements of  human security and happiness, those elements are in danger of  disappearing from our society. These social changes get into our brains just like trauma and abuse do.  Stressful jobs lead to a marked increase in major depression and anxiety disorders in previously healthy people.  Instead of a cooperative world where your life's value is defined by how well you contribute to your community, we  have a competitive society that tries to measure your value by your income and possessions. Instead of a world of social  ties and ritual that provides security in virtually every aspect of your life, we have a world of me-first.  Instead of a sense  of   belonging to a community, we have the anxiety of unemployment  and homelessness.  For the past 25 years in both the U.S. and Europe, rates of anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders have been accelerating  every year.  In 2006, Americans spent an estimated $76 billion a year on antidepressants.  Now health authorities  predict that soon depression will be the world's second largest public health concern. p.298 

To help shake us out of depression individually and collectively, Dr. O'Connor recommends that each of us can get involved on a personal level to make a contribution to the larger good in a way that challenges our comfort. p. 303