And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your

host, David Axelrod.

There are a few people in American life whose triumphs and torments have been as public

as those of Patrick Kennedy, the sion of the great political family who served in Congress

for 16 years, and whose battles form mental health parity and battles against depression

and addiction have been well documented and documented by himself in a great new book

called a common struggle by writing the book and through all his activities to promote

mental health parity, to fight the scourge of addiction.

Patrick Kennedy has shown uncommon courage as you can hear for yourself in this conversation.

My old friend Patrick Kennedy, it's great to be with you.

Like us.

You know, we've known each other now for a couple of decades.

I worked with you when you first ran for office, but we never really had a talk about your

earlier life.

The obvious question is apart from some of the issues in your own family that you've written

about that we'll talk about, talk about the whole Kennedy thing, the whole Gestalt, and the

pressures that that, obviously there were opportunities, but there were a lot of pressures associated

with that. What was it like growing up with that burden responsibility, whatever you want

to call it?

Well, first, you are so instrumental to my first getting elected to Congress, and I'll

never forget several meaningful stories in my history where you were not only a great

political consultant, but a great kind of personal advisor.

...