Life less Lived

Men and Depression

Richard Hawkey – S.A. businessman,

senior SADAG counsellor and

author of Life Less Lived.

Click here to read about it

In Life Less Lived, Johannesburg businessman, father and husband (and now author) Richard Hawkey shares his passage through burnout and depression in the suburbs through the pages of his newly published book.  It is a raw and revealing look at how he succumbed to the demands of modern-day metropolitan life: how he burnt out, experienced severe clinical depression, and lost all ability to function and feel basic emotions.  It is also a tale of how he came through it, recovering himself, and discovering a whole new wonderful way to live. 

Richard was a regular man, living a regular life, the type of urban man everyone’s familiar with. He went to work and worked hard to get ahead as those men do (and supported colleagues through significant loss and trauma as only some men do). He tried to make up for lost family time on the weekends as working dads do. He remembered to make time for his wife, parents, and extended family. He made sure of fulfilling all of these responsibilities and more. It was all very familiar, a life many suburban men and women can identify with.

“Richard’s story is a frank, gritty, compelling account of the invisible decline into the pit of burnout and depression and one man’s ability to find a way out. Perhaps the most powerful message contained in this book is that because he is a self-defined ‘regular guy, in a regular life’, it brings hope to all the other regular people going through this experience as a participant or a helpless observer. If he can, you can.”—Dr. Colinda Linde, Clinical Psychologist, Chair of the Scientific and Advisory Board of the S.A. Depression and Anxiety Group

Life Less Lived placed as finalist in the 2011 International Book Awards and is for anyone feeling stressed, worried they are burning out, or who is currently suffering from depression and wants honest, practical advice on ways to cope and change their lives positively.  This is funny, shocking, sad, desperate, enlightening, inspirational, and informative.  It is also completely true. 

It is available at alllarge booksellers; online via www.kalahari.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

About the Author

Richard Hawkey is a thirty-nine-year-old happily married man with two wonderful children, house in the suburbs, a station wagon and a dog.  Now that he has climbed off the corporate treadmill, he divides his time between writing, consulting, and speaking on the topic of proactive stress management and pondering what form his mid-life crisis should take.