An Interview With Edward Sylvan
To help reduce the stigma of depression and anxiety by advocating and guiding people to appreciate that mental health issues can afflict any segment of our society, regardless of age, race, gender, or social status.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bruce R. Ross.
Bruce R. Ross is a sixty-two-year-old male and has lived with depression and anxiety for his entire adult life; more than forty-five years. Despite this disease 24/7, Bruce overcame its debilitating effects and has had a successful career and personal life.
Some of his noteworthy accomplishments while living with depression and anxiety include:
- After 34 years working in the financial sector. retired as Senior Vice President, Finance, from a $1 billion credit union
- Lecturer at Fanshawe College
- A Bachelor of Commerce degree, Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) certification, Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree
- Finished five marathons after the age of 35
- Completed three triathlons, including a Half-Ironman, after the age of 40
- Travelled to all fifty US states
Bruce has written a book, Breaking Free of Depression’s Grip — A Powerful Success Story, which chronicles his journey of living with depression and his achievements, despite the crushing burden of this disease.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, in Eastern Canada, and grew up in a middle-class family. It was in Nova Scotia that I obtained my core post-secondary education, a Bachelor of Commerce degree, prior to moving to Ontario in 1987 for an employment opportunity. I currently reside three hours north of Toronto with my wife of twenty-six years, Cheryl, and my twenty-year-old daughter, Hannah.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
Interestingly, it was not a book that inspired me to take action, but the Time Magazine. My father subscribed to it when I was in high school. I started to read it and soon became interested in the United States’ current events, politics, science, and entertainment. That fascination led to my goal of travelling to all 50 of the states, which I indeed accomplished when Cheryl and I vacationed in Hawaii five years ago.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
My biggest faux pas was early on in my career at the credit union where I worked, and when at my desk, my phone rang. I assumed it was a friend, so in a loud and smart-ass tone, answered with, “Bruce’s Pizzeria!” But it was the Chief Executive Officer! Fortunately, whereas he could have fired me on the spot, he chastised me. Lesson learned; you never know who you will be talking to or meet in life, so treat everyone with kindness and respect.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
I have three major objectives:
- To share my story with as many readers as possible so people have a better appreciation of what depression is truly all about. Many depression books are written by therapists and doctors and from an academic or clinical perspective. In contrast, mine is written by someone who has experienced clinical depression firsthand and for a truly extended period. I speak from the heart; to give hope to depression sufferers in that despite the illness’ burden, a person can lead a productive personal life, career, and family life.
- To help reduce the stigma of depression and anxiety by advocating and guiding people to appreciate that mental health issues can afflict any segment of our society, regardless of age, race, gender, or social status.
- Statistics are that approximately 5% of the population suffers from depression, more since Covid’s onset. That translates into 17 million people in the United States and 300 million individuals worldwide. My objective is to help society appreciate that depression is as much of a physical disease as cancer and diabetes, and treat it as such.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
Although the book includes a number of intriguing episodes, perhaps the most interesting is when, in the spring of 1982 and I was 22 years old, I hitchhiked from Washington, D.C. to Chicago by myself. The book delves into this adventure, including trying to sleep at the foot of the Capital building foundation — unimaginable today, hitchhiking through the backroads of West Virginia, waiting on the shoulder of I-65 for a ride with a tornado on the way, sleeping under a grocery store loading ramp in Gary, Indiana, to name a few incidences. Interestingly, the stress of personal safety, uncertainty of what was to come next, and being solo, temporarily pushed the depression to my mind’s posterior. The interaction between this adventure and the depression is explored in the book.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I began writing Breaking Free of Depression’s Grip — A Powerful Success Story ten years ago as one of my numerous self-help measures attempting to counteract the weight depression wrought on me. After delving deeply into my journey, and notably with the increased incidences of depression in the world with COVID’s onset two years ago, I thought there would be a market with which to share my first-hand account of what it’s like to deal with the disease every waking moment, as well as give depression sufferers hope that a person can still lead a full life despite the depression.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
In the mid-1990s, which was about the time depression and other mental health issues were in the initial stage of being talked about, and when I was formally diagnosed with depression, I had a boss who one would consider to be “old school”. He, like many people of the baby boomer generation, was not knowledgeable about mental health issues. When I first disclosed my diagnosis to him, he didn’t understand and therefore couldn’t appreciate what I was dealing with. There were some trying times for me, as his employee, as a result. But I kept him informed about my disease, including treatments, forwarding depression-related articles, etc. Those measures, coupled with depression starting to be discussed in the media and scientific community, led to him becoming much more informed, and therefore, understanding of and accepting of it. He is long since retired. There is no longer friction between us and we still keep in touch.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
First and foremost, recognize that depression is as much of a physical disease as diabetes, for example. Only then will it be fully accepted and the resources devoted to conquer it. Depression is currently diagnosed by qualitative and therefore, subjective questionnaires. There is, however, a breakthrough on the horizon. Indiana University recently announced that they are working on a blood test that will quantify that a person indeed suffers from depression. This will lay the foundation for greater acceptance and lead to more research to cure the illness.
Secondly, increased emphasis on education is key. Only when people fully understand the illness, will it begin to be accepted. I have read that many years ago if someone was diagnosed with cancer, they kept it a secret. However, through education, cancer is now openly accepted and discussed, with increased donor and government funding for its research and eradication. I envision a similar path to curing depression.
Thirdly, for the government to continue with measures to destigmatize depression, such as through awareness campaigns. One of the crushing burdens of depression is the loneliness created by the disease. If sufferers are permitted and encouraged to speak openly about depression, this loneliness will be reduced significantly. Reducing the stigma would be dependent on the level of education, as noted in the second point above.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is the ability to influence and guide others through sound ethics and integrity at the core, and setting an example and taking responsibility for your actions. Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa would be examples of such leaders.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Five things I wish someone told me are:
- That I had depression, instead of living with it for over twenty years before being formally diagnosed. That would have saved many agonizing years trying to solve the riddle of why I didn’t feel physically or mentally “normal”. In fact, although my pretense for moving from Nova Scotia to Ontario was for economic opportunities, I was actually running away to start a new life to feel better. However, I soon found out that your problems follow you wherever you go.
- That simply taking an antidepressant was not going to be a cure-all. I started my depression healing journey in the 1990s with Prozac, the so-called wonder drug at the time. Little did I know at the time that I would try more than 20 different antidepressants in the future — so many I’ve lost track — to no avail.
- You can still lead a full and productive family life and career success despite the depression burden. Because I didn’t recognize this fact, I didn’t appreciate what I had or what I had accomplished until much later in life and reflected back. I lost out on many quality years of what I have found out to be a short life on earth. Ironically, though, is it highly unlikely that I would have achieved so much if I didn’t have the depression; it forced me to keep trying when I would otherwise have been satisfied with what I had.
- Exercise really does help. It wasn’t until about halfway into the 45+ years of living with depression that I trained for and completed five marathons, including New York City, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, that I appreciated that exercise eased the pain.
- You will get mixed messages of how to resolve the depression riddle. When I first revealed my illness to people, a number offered their “solutions.” In retrospect, most were amateur Freudian assessments and “cures” (e.g. to chunk my ruminating thoughts). Unfortunately, I spent too much unproductive time and energy listening to and attempting their solutions.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Without a doubt, it is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “The time is always right to do what is right”. Even during my darkest times, I adhered to what Dr. King said, and treated people with dignity, courtesy, and respect. In fact, I refer to a specific incident in my book where I felt great comfort in making the right decision by doing so.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
My unanimous choice is Bob Dylan. I have followed his music and career since high school; more than forty-five years, coincidently the same period in which I have lived with depression. His cryptic and brooding lyrics have intrigued me since day one and still to this day. He has a mysterious and eclectic personality and is quite reclusive, characteristics I see in myself. In an abstract way, I would like to meet someone who parallels the perspective I have of myself.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
More details, including where to buy Breaking Free of Depression’s Grip — A Powerful Success Story, can be found on my website, www.brucerross.ca
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Bruce R Ross Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.