Kraft Nabisco leader talks about dealing with depression

• By Randall Mell
• Mar 29, 2012 4:58 PM ET

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Lindsey Wright doesn’t feel as if she’s swimming with weights on anymore.

She said that’s what battling anxiety and depression is like.

The Australian pro said she is speaking up about her problems in hopes her story will help others struggling similarly.

With a 5-under-par 67 Thursday to take the early lead at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Wright’s recovery story moved to a lofty new platform. She wrote about her problems in the Sydney Morning Herald last month after winning the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open.

“I could have shot 80 today, and I’d be happy,” Wright, 32, said. “I don’t feel like I’m swimming in weights anymore. I’m sleeping better, I’m happier. I’m very lucky to be feeling that way.”

Wright returned home to Australia late last year, looking for something new to pursue in life. She said she was miserable, lonely, homesick and agonizing in sleepless nights filled with anxiety.

“I went home in December and said, `I’m done,’” Wright said. “My dad said that’s OK, but you have to have something to fall back on.”

So Wright went to work in corporate hospitality at the Australian Open, as a media officer at another Australian men’s event. All the while, she sought professional treatment. She found remedy and relief, felt her burdens lift, and she picked up her clubs again.

Winning in New Zealand, making the early run at Kraft, Wright still isn’t certain what her future holds in golf, but she’s feeling better about her life.

“I’m on a three-week plan,” Wright said. “I do something for three weeks, then I plan something else.”

Wright said winning the Kraft Nabisco wouldn’t change the plan.

“But it would be nice to leap into Poppie’s Pond on Sunday,” she said.