In Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, Gifty, a neuroscience PhD student, struggles to understand addiction and depression through both science and faith. The novel follows her journey as she researches reward-seeking behavior in mice while also processing the trauma of losing her brother to opioid addiction and watching her mother suffer from deep depression. Gifty constantly tries to balance what she believes spiritually with what she learns in the lab.

The article I chose from ScienceDirect, “Relationship between smartphone addiction, loneliness, and depression in adolescents”, focuses on how excessive phone use affects teens emotionally and mentally. The connection between this study and the novel is strong because they both look at how addiction and depression can be influenced by personal habits, biology, and environment. Gifty grows up watching her brother Nana go from a promising athlete to someone who becomes addicted to opioids after a sports injury. His overdose leads to their mother falling into a deep depression, which leaves Gifty emotionally alone. As a result, Gifty becomes obsessed with understanding the brain’s reward system and why people keep going back to things that hurt them. Her scientific research involves studying how mice behave when they receive a sugary drug mix and how they respond when it’s taken away. Gifty grows up watching her brother Nana go from a promising athlete to someone who becomes addicted to opioids after a sports injury. His overdose leads to their mother falling into a deep depression, which leaves Gifty emotionally alone. As a result, Gifty becomes obsessed with understanding the brain’s reward system and why people keep going back to things that hurt them. Her scientific research involves studying how mice behave when they receive a sugary drug mix and how they respond when it’s taken away. Throughout the novel, Gifty also battles with her faith. Her religious upbringing taught her to pray and trust in God, but her experience with loss and her studies in neuroscience create a constant tension between science and religion. The novel blends these two worlds, showing that neither science or faith alone can answer every question about suffering and healing.

The article by Sunay and Aktaş (2023) explores the relationship between smartphone addiction, loneliness, and depression in 1,041 adolescents in Eastern Turkey. Using surveys and interviews, the researchers found that teens with high levels of smartphone addiction also experienced higher levels of loneliness and depression. The study showed that girls, students with lower academic performance, and those from high-income families were more likely to show signs of phone addiction and depression. Another key finding was that teens who used their phones more often also reported feeling more isolated and emotionally down. The study suggests that as smartphone use increases, so does the risk of mental health problems. 

Both the novel and the case study show how addiction is more than just bad choices, it’s connected to deeper emotional pain and brain activity. In the novel, Gifty looks at how the brain reacts to rewards, trying to understand why her brother couldn’t stop using opioids even when it hurt him. The case study reveals that teens keep using their phones even when it makes them feel more lonely and sad, which ties back to the same reward-seeking behavior Gifty studies in mice. Another similarity is how both texts connect addiction to depression. In Gifty’s story, addiction and depression are closely linked through her family’s struggles. In the novel, Gifty isolates herself emotionally as she tries to make sense of her loss through science. In the study, teens who feel lonely often turn to their phones for comfort, but that habit ends up making them feel worse. Both the novel and the study highlight how trying to escape pain through addiction only leads to more pain.

Finally, Transcendent Kingdom mixes science and religion, while the article sticks strictly to science and data. Gifty’s inner conflict between her faith and her research adds a personal, emotional layer to the scientific discussion which is something a case study isn’t about. But when you put both together, you get a fuller picture of how addiction and depression affect people on both a biological and emotional level. By comparing Transcendent Kingdom with a real world study on smartphone addiction and depression, we can better understand how science and literature work together to explain mental health issues. Both show that addiction and depression are complicated problems tied to both the brain and a person’s life experiences. Blending science and storytelling gives us a deeper view into the struggles people face and the ways we try to make sense of them.

Science Direct Article below:

https://www-sciencedirect-com.laguardia.ezproxy.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S0882596324000629