In this episode we explore the link between trauma, mental health, learning disabilities and genius, look at a number of historical figures and how they harnessed challenges like depression and ADHD to achieve world-changing results, and examine the practical steps you can take to overcome struggles today with Dr. Gail Saltz.

Dr. Gail Saltz is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell School of medicine and a psychoanalyst with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She is a columnist, bestselling author, podcast host and television commentator and one of the nation’s foremost go-to experts on a variety of psychological and mental health issues, having appeared on Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, The View, Dateline, 20/20, Primetime, Today, CNN, CBS This Morning, MSNBC, The Oprah Winfrey Show and more.

We discuss:

• How people like Vincent Van Gogh and Abraham Lincoln harnessed their mental issues to achieve success

• Deconstructing the “psychobiographies” of some of the greatest achievers in the world (DaVinci, Einstein, Lincoln, etc)

• Close to half of americans struggle with some sort of mental health issue

• What people who are embarrassed about seeking help can do

• Why “mental illness” is often a STRENGTH and the greatest achievements are a often a DIRECT RESULT of struggles with issues like dyslexia, anxiety, depression, etc

• How Abraham Lincoln struggled his whole life with depression and why it gave him the empathy to reshape history

• How Einstein overcome crippling ADHD to change physics

• Practical steps that someone can take who is struggling with anxiety and depression right now

• How to hone-in on your strengths and leverage them

• How we get caught in defeating stories that we tell ourselves

• How to identify and “re-write” self-defeating stories that we tell ourselves

• A few actionable insights into how to improve and build relationships from one of the best sex and relationships experts in the world

• How to LISTEN better, improve communication, and build better relationships

• And more!

If you think you have a challenge you can’t overcome - listen to this episode! 

Thank you so much for listening!

Please SUBSCRIBE and LEAVE US A REVIEW on iTunes! (Click here for instructions on how to do that).

SHOW NOTES, LINKS, & RESEARCH

• [Website] Dr. Gail Saltz

• [YouTube playlist] Psychobiography

• [Book] Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

• [Podcast] Dr. Gail Saltz

• [Website] The Gottman Institute

• [Amazon Author Page] Harville Hendrix

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT