J.M. Thompson, PhD
Running is a Kind of Dreaming: A Memoir
(HarperOne, October 5, 2021)
A powerful, breathtaking memoir about a young man’s descent into madness, and how running saved his life.
“Voluntary or involuntary?” Asked the nurse who admitted Thompson to a San Francisco psychiatric hospital in January 2005.
For years, Thompson had been tortured by his mind. First there was depression, then ineffective but highly addictive medication, and finally therapy, where he fell further into an inescapable darkness. After a suicide attempt, he spent weeks confined on the psych ward, feeling alone and trapped. One afternoon, during an exercise break on the hospital rooftop basketball court, he experienced a sudden urge. Run, I thought. Run before it’s too late and you’re stuck down here. Right now. Run.
The impulse that starts with sprints across a hospital rooftop turns into all-night runs in the mountains. Through motion and immersion in the perfection of nature, Thompson finds a way out of the hell of depression and drug addiction. Step by step, mile by mile, his body and mind heal.
In this lyrical, vulnerable, and breath-taking debut memoir, J.M. Thompson, now a successful psychologist, retraces the path that led him from despair to wellness, detailing the chilling childhood trauma that caused his mind to snap and sink, and the unorthodox treatment that finally saved him. Running Is A Kind Of Dreaming is a luminous literary testament to the universal human capacity to recover from our deepest wounds.
Praise for Running is a Kind of Dreaming
“J.M. Thompson’s journey through the depths of suicidal depression and addiction is terrifying, arduous, and ultimately exhilarating. Running is a Kind of Dreaming delivers a fascinating exploration of the relation between mind and body, as well as inspiration for those struggling to find light beyond the darkness. A brave and vivid story, poetically told.”
–Scott Stossel, author of the New York Times bestseller My Age of Anxiety
“J.M. Thompson’s beautifully written Running is a Kind of Dreaming is a revelation. This remarkable memoir takes the reader on a journey from the abyss—the darkest despair, when all seems lost—to the return to glorious life. This book will inspire and provide hope for the hopeless.”
–David Sheff, author of the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Boy
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J. M. Thompson, PhD is a clinical psychologist and ultrarunner. He completed his psychology training at the University of California, San Francisco, where he conducted research on the brain mechanisms of meditation and the physiology of trauma. He is also an ordained Zen practitioner and certified yoga teacher. He has finished over 40 ultramarathons, and multiple solo adventure runs in the Sierra Nevada, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley. Thompson currently serves as a staff psychologist at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.