I interviewed conservative talk show host Larry Kudlow on Tuesday night, about 10 minutes after he finished his prime time show, The Kudlow Report, on CNBC. Kudlow is speaking in Palm Beach on Saturday night at a black-tie benefit for Gratitude House, a local treatment center for women – many who are off the streets and could never afford the kind of long-term residential treatment they get there.

I am not a big fan of talk shows – radio or television – whose hosts cover current events like they are fans at a hockey game – taunting each other’s beliefs with insults, threats and misinformation. I think these shows encourage viewers to draw a line in the sand – you are either on their side or you are not.

On the rude-o-meter Kudlow is nowhere near Palm Beach’s own Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of what you think about Kudlow’s beliefs,  the guy is brilliant and he has a resume that blows all other talk show hosts out of the water: Chief economist at Bear Sterns, Paine Webber and the OMB under Reagan. His is an author and regular contributor to The National Review. He was a member of the Bush Cheney transition team and advisor to Jack Kemp.

Personally, I don’t agree with some of Kudlow’s beliefs but he knows what he is talking about. He is NOT just another talking head.

What does any of this have to do with depression?

Kudlow is a fellow recovered alcoholic who speaks openly about his illness.

What does that have to do with depression?

I am one of those alcoholics who also has depression. I am dual diagnosed, like about half the other alcoholics out there. I don’t know if Kudlow is dual-diagnosed but I admire and respect the hell out of his 15-years in recovery. Unlike his TV persona, Kudlow –  the recovered addict and alcoholic – is soft-spoken, calm and humble when he speaks of his respect for his illness and 12-Step program.

He regularly attends meetings. He still reads his program’s literature every morning. He still prays. He still helps other addicts and alcoholics when he can. He doesn’t speak openly about his program or good deeds unless he believes it will help another addict or alcoholic. He is right-sized.

My alcoholism and depression are inextricable. I see them together, like one of those parasitic plants wrapped so tightly around the trunk of a tree that they can no longer be separated. I don’t know which one is the parasite and which one is the host illness. It doesn’t matter to me.

What I do know is that if I am to live, I must treat all my mental illnesses – depression, bipolar and alcoholism. My medications and therapy treat my depression and bipolar. My 12-Step Program is my medication for my addictions and alcoholism. I finally realize that I must treat my alcoholism as seriously as I treat my depression and bipolar. Recovery is not just some new-age journey or some 30-day program. Recovery is to me what insulin is to an insulin-dependent diabetic. I must take it. If I stopped working my program of recovery,  I risk getting seriously sick –  just as a diabetic would become seriously ill if she stopped taking insulin.

I cannot keep my depression and bipolar under control – even with the medications and therapy – if I continue to drink. And if I continue to drink, I will never control my bipolar and depression. It’s that simple.

That is why I admire a guy like Kudlow, who understands that recovery is a part of life until you take your last breath. You get up in the morning, remind yourself that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life will become unmanageable if you pick up a drink. Then you suit up, you show up and you do the next right thing.

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