Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, has a galvanizing personality. The easy smile, the centered demeanor, the equanimity — it all accounts for how he’s been able to make such smooth transitions in life. The Rock, after all, went from college football star to wrestling superstar to global movie star in what looked like an easy path to travel. It wasn’t so smooth, Johnson revealed in an interview for Oprah’s Master Class.
The Rock suffered from depression along the way. At one point before he became a wrestling star Johnson stayed in his apartment for two-and-a-half months, he says, unable to motivate himself to push through life. The Rock, like most depression survivors, gives really good advice about this that’s also really difficult advice to follow. “One of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it. You’re not going to be the last to go through it,” Johnson says. You have to know that “on the other side of your pain is something good.” Johnson broke out of his depression, marshaling the strength and courage. And indeed there was something good on the other side for him, much that was very good. In describing his early wrestling career, The Rock inadvertently also give a great description of what depression feels like for most: “I had great angst every night before I went out, because I was not able to be myself.”
