I had open heart surgery in 2011. Two days later my heart stopped. In the weeks that followed, while my body healed, my psyche fell into a deep depression. It seems this happens a lot after such invasions. For the next six months I watched TV for days on end, or slept in my office, pretending to work.

Eventually I got better. The Remeron helped, as did my wife Jean, a physician. But she said afterward she was surprised she hadn’t heard me listen to music that entire time. Not once.

This was a huge shock to hear. I love music the way a Swiftie loves Ms. Swift. I was raised on classical music. It’s always playing in the background of my day, including now on my computer as I write about how we don’t seem to use the tools that are just sitting there for us to pick up and help ourselves. We don’t do what the world and our own experience tell us will make us less sad, even more happy.

Such lethargy is baked into what depression is.

Read on…