S2 E11: A Conversation About Depression and Alcoholism With Shawn Colvin

Today on The Hardcore Humanism Podcast we are talking with Grammy Award winning musician, singer and songwriter Shawn Colvin. You may know Shawn from some of her hit songs such as “Sunny Came Home. And Shawn will be touring in 2022 to mark the 30th anniversary of her debut album Steady On.

Now on a personal note, it was wonderful to get the chance to talk with Shawn again. Shawn was actually one of the first artists I ever interviewed for Psychology Today who was open about her struggles with mental health. The first time we spoke was back in 2014 where Shawn shared her struggle with depression and alcoholism. What was so striking was Shawn’s openness about how depression interfered with her engaging in basic life functioning. Just getting up in the morning could be an all day task if it ever happened at all. And the feedback I got on the interview was so powerful. People talked about how the stigma of mental illness had held them back from sharing their mental health issues with others, in some cases so much so that people didn’t get treatment for their depression and addiction. And Shawn’s sharing her story gave people hope that they could reach out and get the help and support they needed. And that feedback was ultimately one of the reasons my wife Aylin and I decided to eventually launch The Hardcore Humanism Podcast. We saw the power of someone like Shawn to not only change people’s lives through their music, but also through sharing personal stories of how they overcame barriers such as depression and addiction to pursue their authentic lives.

A core goal of humanistic approaches to therapy is to help people remove barriers in their lives so that they can self-actualize. And one of the barriers that many people face in pursuing and achieving their best, actualized selves is mental illness. And in our conversation today we talk in depth with Shawn about how depression and alcoholism interfered with a central core feature of her purpose in life, which is to be a creative artist. Unfortunately, the pandemic has exacerbated or even caused mental health issues for many people, with depression and substance use becoming much more prevalent in our society.

And Shawn talks specifically about the regimen that she uses for her ongoing recovery both from depression and alcoholism. And I want to highlight two aspects of her program that are so important for any of us to help manage our mental health as we pursue our purpose in life. The first thing is Shawn’s mindset, which she describes as humility. Shawn works to be open to learning throughout her life. This is so important as we face different stressors and struggles, because as our life evolves, our approach to our life needs to evolve with it. And without that open-minded approach it is tough for us to adapt to our ever-changing life. And the second is that she always tries to take some kind of action. That combination of being open-minded and taking action creates a dynamic, evolving approach to approaching one’s life, overcoming barriers and achieving one’s purpose.

Photo Credit: Korye Logan