Triumphing over Depression

Sherwin Nuland is an author and speaker on the big topics like life and death, the mind, morality, aging and the human spirit. He also been a practicing surgeon for 30 years and treated more than 10,000 patients. His 1995 book How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter demythologizes the process of dying. Through stories of real patients and his own family, he examines the seven most common causes of death: old age, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, accidents, heart disease and stroke, and their effects. The book, one of 10 he has written, won the National Book Award and spent 34 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. His latest book is The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being.

This is the sort of man that we perceive as having it all together. In the 22 minute talk that follows Sherwin Nuland explodes the idea that he had an easy life. In fact, he shares the story of his deep depression and hospitalization in the 1970s. In the course of his talk (which does include some profanity) he talks about depression, obsession, marital breakdown and electro shock therapy. I found it interesting and inspiring to know that he made a full recovery, went back to being a successful surgeon, and has achieved the life that we assumed he had in the first few sentences of the introduction above.



This is a first hand account of the deepest, most severe form of depression and the road to wellness and productivity.