Struck by Living

After leaving the business world to care for her two small children and her ageing grandparents, Julie Hersh felt that she had evaporated into her surroundings, no longer sure of who she was. She became deeply depressed -- badly enough to very nearly take her own life three times. Faltering under th [...]
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After leaving the business world to care for her two small children and her ageing grandparents, Julie Hersh felt that she had evaporated into her surroundings, no longer sure of who she was. She became deeply depressed -- badly enough to very nearly take her own life three times. Faltering under the burden of her growing depression, she contemplated the purpose of her very existence while trying to function as a wife, mother, and community member. Most people answer these questions without a tour of the psychiatric ward, but Hersh's road was bumpy -- the psychiatric ward was only one of many stops on her journey to overcoming the clinical depression that seemed to rob her of a normal life. This is Hershs harrowing but rewarding tale of this battle, of how she fought for her life through counselling, medication, and electroconvulsive therapy. This is a memoir that reads more like a well-paced novel -- is the story of how one woman chose life over death. It also illuminates the true nature of depression as a disease, to which people can by genetically predisposed and which can be treated.Realising that so many of us are only one step removed from the devastation of mental illness or even suicide, Hersh shares her riveting story in the hope that more people will be aware of the signs of depression and that more lives will be saved.