In one of Jason Silva’s latest videos, he asks the question, “Why are we so sad?” Why are we so depressed?
Why are there – according to the UN – 800,000 suicides every year? In fact, over 78 million people in the U.S are prescribed psychiatric drugs to solve a problem that we deem an individual issue.

(You can find Jason’s video here)

It took a while for me to respond to this but it has been on my mind for some time… It seems the answers we are given are always geared toward the individual, while ignoring our need to be socially connected. I believe if we look in the direction of our disconnected, polarized society, then our actions to resolve issues like depression need to be very different than simply treating the individual – and will quickly infringe on our culture and the way we have defined our reality. It’s not just a number of depressed people, it’s our depressed collective consciousness.

In Jason’s later video, he describes the “flow state” as a recourse to combat depression, where the brain is engaged, and the body is full of energy. In these extraordinary activities, he says our nervous systems light up and activate. Which is great if you can jump out of a plane, or have the privilege to be on stage playing music.

But what about the ordinary, everyday folks who are depressed in their day to day lives? I would say that we are depressed because we have a depressing culture, one that doesn’t create connection. This connection that we build in everyday moments is the real medicine that can cure our depression. To simply be with one another, with trust, opening up about subtle feelings and sharing in a way that nourishes us. Every human being has an incredible life story that might be deemed not important enough by a skewed culture of celebrity, but which is in itself so sweet and meaningful.

Depression to me is the inward pollution that we see around us in the outside world. People who deal with depression are the sensitive ones through whom the negative energy of our culture flows. And we respond by giving them more pharmaceuticals to stifle the natural reaction and keep them numb.

Why do we think we can’t solve this? It’s quite obvious why we are depressed. We’re destroying everything around us and we’re depressed about it! Let’s open up our hearts. Let’s be there for each other. And let’s connect on a level that allows us to collectively heal the old wounds that keep us separated and disempowered.

What do you think?

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