When I had my heart episode at the age of ~42, it was a turning point. Beforehand, I was depressed a lot of the time. Marriage and relationship break-ups, bad financial situation, smoking and drinking. For some reason, the heart episode (it technically wasn't a full-on heart attack as I recently found out), motivated me to start cycling and get my life in shape.

That was over 17 years ago. I've had periods where things haven't been so bright, and I can now sense that alcohol played a role in them. And here is the thing... I feel I can do and am doing things I never thought I could when I was younger. I've had a successful stints in long distance cycling, cycle-touring, going for over a decade without owning a motor vehicle, sailing in various forms including races, hiking, canoeing, and international travel.

I also have had jobs I really liked, with several of them, including my current one, involving extensive outdoor work. And I have a wife who keeps me busy one way or another.

Staying physically active has been and continues to be a lifesaver for me. I can't help with any advice on clinical depression -- that is strictly for the medicos. But if Piratebike is suffering the downer feelings coming from a heart condition, now is the time to set some realistic targets in life and to strive to achieve them.

Incidentally, there are two posters in this thread whom I consider extraordinarily inspirational and whom I admired deeply. qcpmsame, whom I have met personally, is someone who has fought through some awful medical situations, yet has retained his dignity and zest for life. The other is bruce19, who has recovered from a really bad accident that could have left him a paraplegic but for the grace of destiny. I know both have held self-doubts about whether they could get back where they were. I know both persevered, and now are riding and living (almost) as though nothing was amiss.