This is part of the transcript from a high school leadership workshop Dr. Lauber conducted in Indiana, PA in 2011.

We’re going to spend the next hour or so learning about you, and you’re going to learn about you.  We’re going to do some interesting things, I hope.  To have some fun but also to learn some stuff.

I want to begin by telling you a little bit about me.  The story begins my high school graduation day.  I’m giving the graduation speech.  I have a full ride scholarship to Northwestern University staring me in the face; valedictorian, seven varsity letters, dating the captain of the volleyball team.  I’m on top of the world.  I’ve got everything going for me.

Three and a half years later, my senior year at Northwestern, I’m self-admitting myself to the psychology ward at the Evanston Hospital for signs of depression – major depression, nervous breakdown depression, suicidal thought depression.

My story today is not about what caused that, but it’s about the next 25 years.  Where I stand before you today, a successful faculty here at IUP.  I’m an associate professor in the communications media department, three happy kids, married happily; I’m healthy; I have hobbies; I love my life.  What I want to share with you, what I want you to learn is what I learned in that 25-year journey where I thought I knew it all.  I found out I didn’t know it all, and I found my breaking point, and then I got back to a healthy life.

We’re going to spend just a little bit of time today exploring some fundamentals of human psychology in a fun and interesting kind of way.  Truth is I am now an applied psychologist.  That’s my Ph.D.  So I’ve done this for a very long period of time.  So hopefully, you’ll learn a little bit about yourself.

Let’s start with a little demo.  This is a very easy one to do.  I’d like you to hold your hand out towards me; just point your finger at me – point right at my nose – right at my nose – and make a little circle with your nose around my nose, okay.  Got that going?  Now put your finger on your chin and hold it there.  Now wait a minute, look around.  Does everybody have their finger on their chin?  Or do they have it on their cheek? I actually put my hand on my cheek, didn’t I?   All right, put your hand down.

Hey, what did we just learn? Your brain is a fascinating complex piece of equipment.  The most complex thing in the known universe. Billions and billions of interconnections.  We can’t even fathom how complicated it is.  And yes, it can make mistakes. It can try to process conflicting stimuli for example.

So when I said, “Put it on your chin” that didn’t match with what I did, which is what you saw, and a lot of you put your finger on your cheek like I did.  So understanding the human mind is a fascinating topic.  I’ve spent 25 years exploring this.  There’re some really cool things to learn…