Lincoln’s Depression | Joshua Wolf Shenk | Madness Radio

First Aired: 01-28-2015 -- 2 comments | Add comment

Celebrated US President Abraham Lincoln also suffered from life-threatening depression. Did he view his “melancholy” as a treatable illness, as a punishment from God — or as a source of his gifts? How did Lincoln’s extraordinary leadership abilities arise from his struggle with extreme pain?

Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, explores the famous President’s battle with despair, suicide, and intense sorrow, and discusses what people with depression – and the medical establishment empowered to treat them – can learn from Lincoln’s suffering. www.shenk.net www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/10/lincolns-great-depression/304247/ www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/what-makes-us-happy/307439/ www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?lincoln-mccullough-civil-war-condolence

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2 comments on “Lincoln’s Depression | Joshua Wolf Shenk | Madness Radio”

  1. Pingback: Is This Depression? Or Melancholy? Or... - Mad In America

  2. Irene says:

    This was an interesting and informative interview about Lincoln’s depression. I liked the comment “the person with depression is in the midst of a story.” How perfect! Keep up the good work, Will!

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