Former Mayor Ed Koch on His Bout With Depression

By Gabrielle Birkner April 13, 2009

In the Forward’s Bintel Brief advice column this week, Ed Koch — New York City’s 105th mayor — speaks candidly about his bout with depression. Responding to a question from an ailing elderly woman who feels her life is no longer worth living, Koch shares how, in 1989, when he was the mayor of New York, “There were times when I could not get out of bed because of my depressed state and cried without reason.” To read Koch’s Bintel Brief column in full, click here.

Koch talked more about his battle with depression last fall, during a conversation with local television personality Budd Mishkin at the 92nd Street Y. An clip from that event can be seen below:

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