Struck by Living: From Depression to Hope is an honest and hopeful look at clinical depression punctuated by suicide attempts and a recovery path including electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT. This debut non-fiction narrative by Julie Hersh traces her search for identity through her career, interfaith marriage, motherhood and clinical depression.
Awarded the Mental Health America Ruth Altschuler Community Advocate Prism Award and selected as one of the 2010 Distinguished Women by Northwood University, Julie Hersh is an outspoken advocate for mental health. "Despite medical advances," Julie says, "too many people die by suicide because they are afraid to seek help." Julie's goal is to provide a living example that mental illness is a manageable disease. Her website www.struckbyliving.com provides updated information on speaking engagements. Her Struck by Living blog is featured on the Psychology Today website. Julie is also a guest blogger for "Say No to Stigma" for Menninger Clinic.
After earning her BBA at the University of Notre Dame, Hersh worked in high-tech product development and marketing/sales in Silicon Valley. She "retired" from a lucrative sales management position after the birth of her first child. A long-time member of the Cooper Center, Hersh ran her second marathon at age 50. Julie is a board member of Southwestern Medical Foundation, Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Museum of Art, on the advisory council for Mental Health America of Greater Dallas and active supporter of the Suicide and Crisis Center, CONTACT and other non-profit organizations. She lives with her husband and two children in Dallas. Texas.
