Michael Lardon M.D.

Tonight's topic-"Overcoming The Odds"

Dr. Michael Lardon's Sport Psychiatry career was first catalyzed by his involvement in table tennis.

In 1976 Michael Lardon was chosen by the United States Table Tennis Association as the country's most outstanding junior and sent to Japan to train with the World Champion. After a career of playing professionally in Europe and Asia he won a Gold Medal in the 1980 Olympic Sports Festival and subsequently retired from table tennis and focused on his academic career.

Dr. Lardon received a degree in psychology with honors from Stanford University, and received his medical degree from the University of Texas. After medical school, he completed an internship in internal medicine at UCLA. He then completed a psychiatric residency and a subsequent fellowship in psychopharmacology and psychobiology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). During this time he worked with and caddied for his brother, Brad Lardon in the finals of the PGA Tour Qualifying School. Team Lardon's quest for a fully exempt tour card was successful and this experience was well chronicled in the New York Times best seller, A Good Walk Spoiled and Golf Magazine.

In 1995, Dr. Lardon won the Judd Research Award at the UCSD for brain research on athletic peak performance. Dr. Lardon often collaborates with Dr. Eric Heiden, 1980 five-time Olympic Gold Medalist and United States Olympic Speedskating Team physician. In addition, Dr. Lardon works with a variety of Olympic, National Football League, Major League Baseball, and PGA Tour athletes. He is currently an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Diego and his private practice is located in San Diego, California. Please click here if you would like to see his curriculum vitae.

Dr. Lardon is a nationally recognized speaker and lectures on various topics including the Zone, Peak Performance, and Overcoming Mood Disorders. In addition to Dr. Lardon's clinical and research interests he often provides keynote speaking for large corporate groups. His lectures focus on Finding Your Zone and achieving peak performance in all domains of life with a specific interest in maximizing productivity in competitive business environments. Dr. Lardon is dedicated to educating the public about depression and anxiety disorders. He often volunteers his time in various media capacities championing this cause. He has been interviewed by the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and CNN regarding the recognition and treatment of depression among elite athletes. Most recently Dr. Lardon has worked on a de-stigmatizing depression campaign with Olympic Skeleton champion, Jim Shea, in partnership with Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Lardon's life-long goal is to help the general public conceptualize mental health to include not only the recognition and treatment of mental illness but the maximization of human potential.

To quote Dr. Lardon "this is a very exciting time in the field of sport psychiatry because of the tremendous advancements in neuroscience. It is the integration of research and clinical expertise that allows me to help facilitate performance in my clients. I now utilize everything from cognitive-behavioral strategies, medicine, hypnosis, psychotherapy, performance enhancement techniques and common sense. I feel very fortunate to have a profession that grew out of my life's experience and draws on the latest scientific breakthroughs in the field of neuroscience."