Bruce Springsteen reveals battle with 'crushing' depression

Bruce Springsteen has spoken of the "crushing" depression he has battled against.

The rock star first saw a psychotherapist more than 30 years ago, according to extracts from his new autobiography detailed in Vanity Fair.

The Boss, 66, said he struggled with depression at the time of his 2012 album Wrecking Ball, which included the song This Depression.

"I was crushed between 60 and 62, good for a year, and out again from 63 to 64," he writes. "Not a good record."

Springsteen said his wife, singer Patti Scialfa, "will observe a freight train bearing down, loaded with nitroglycerin and running quickly out of track".

He added: "She gets me to the doctors and says, 'This man needs a pill'."

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Springsteen also voiced fears he would suffer in the same way his father Douglas did before him.

"You don't know the illness's parameters," he told the magazine. "Can I get sick enough to where I become a lot more like my father than I thought I might?"

In his book, Springsteen also says his father had relatives with prominent mental health issues, including agoraphobia and hair-pulling disorders, which were undiagnosed or not discussed.

Springsteen's memoir, Born to Run, is released on September 27.