Nationally recognized mental health leader, speaker, and filmmaker Dan Lukasik leverages his lived experience with depression and mental illness to deliver unforgettable talks that resonate with audiences and offer evidence-based solutions.
STORIES THAT IMPACT: LIVING WITH DEPRESSION
Using storytelling to connect with audiences, Dan has delivered more than 200 presentations across the U.S. on depression and mental illness. As a successful trial lawyer, he was diagnosed with major depression twenty-five years ago. He shares the fear, loneliness, and stigma he experienced in his professional and personal life, along with his recovery. Drawing on evidence-based solutions, Dan offers practical tips that can help not only people with depression but also their families and friends who want to support them on their healing journey.
USING FILMMAKING TO TELL STORIES ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS
Engaging audiences takes more than facts and PowerPoints. It requires a deep dive into stories people can relate to.
Dan delivers on this with two films he produced and in which he appears.
“MY BROTHER LOST IN TIME: A BIPOLAR LIFE”
The first film, “My Brother Lost in Time: A Bipolar Life,” tells the story of his attempts, while struggling with his own depression, to save his younger brother Paul, who died after a lifetime battle with mental illness. Speaking from the heart, Dan shares his family’s pain as they tried to help his brother. He’s joined in the film by suicide prevention expert Dr. Celia Spacone. The short documentary connects with families of loved ones with mental illness and offers hope, encouragement, and valuable resources. The film premiered on PBS in 2024.
“Travels with George: A Journey through Depression, connection and friendship”
The second documentary, “Travels with George: A Journey Through Depression, Connection, and Friendship,” is a powerfully inspirational film about Dan’s mentoring relationship with a young man he met ten years ago. He shares how, in the midst of a deep depression, he reached out to a local church to see if he could be of service and met George, who would change his life and support him on his journey to heal from his depression. It explores the loneliness of mental illness and offers a positive, hopeful vision of how connection provides a powerful path toward recovery. The film premiered on PBS in 2025.
