For a really long time,I had two mysteries that were hanging over me.
I didn't understand them and,to be honest, I was quite afraid to look into them.
The first mystery was,I'm 40 years old,and all throughout my lifetime, year after year,serious depression and anxiety have risen,in the United States,in Britain, and across the Western world.
And I wanted to understand why.
Why is this happening to us?
Why is it that with each year that passes, more and more of us are finding it harder to get through the day?
And I wanted to understand this because of a more personal mystery.
When I was a teenager, I remember going to my doctor and explaining that I had this feeling,like pain was leaking out of me.
I couldn't control it,I didn't understand why it was happening, I felt quite ashamed of it.
And my doctor told me a story that I now realize was well-intentioned, but quite oversimplified.
