Mental Illness - very difficult to manage especially for the super successful

Anthony Bourdain, passed away on 8th June, in an apparent suicide 

Fame is a double edged sword, many times merciless and unforgiving. Those who pursue money, power and wealth will undoubtedly be thrust into the limelight. This post highlights just 2 extremely successful people, Anthony Bourdain and Ms Kate Spade and tries to figure out what made them do what they did. Super successful people normally have  tremendous drive, are very resilient and super focussed. However, the brain is an extremely complex organ which needes its fair share of down time, fun and games and challenges. 

Emotions will ultimately get the better of many human beings, we are human after all and while there may be support in the form of friends, family and their life partner, it is always the state of mind which needs to be in the right frame for anything. Someone very close to me, once had a mental meltdown and he could not accept the consequence of failure. I also had my crisis in my work life and I was not myself - I felt powerless and feared the inevitable - of financial, emotional and even health dwindling and ultimately left with nothing but an empty shell.

It worked out well for both him and me, although these episodes in life are decades apart. 

Religion, is the great game changer. Belief in God or Faith and falling back on His wonderful works for each and every one of us, and accepting that many times things do not go the way it was planned to be. I believe this gives us Hope. Once we have Hope, we can then find a way out even from the darkest of days. 

Kate Spade of the namesake bag fame passed away early June 2018 from suicide

Mental Illness or feeling down,can set in at any time, at any age and even several times in a persons life. Some people experience extreme mood swings and will need to take medication or seek psychiatric help on certain occasions and other occasions, psychological treatments. 

While the supporting industry for mental illness is in place for many decades, the stigma associated to mental illness is still very pronounced. Especially so where everyone places a premium to 'face' or the perception that a person is doing well in the many spheres of life.

No one wants to be called a 'wacko' or a 'mental case'. Outliers in our society can be very very successful in their own fields. Let me just name 10 greats who struggled with mental illness and tremendous self doubt whom society shunned and only after their passing did society wake up and discover and honour their true greatness.

  1. Beethoven
  2. Vincent van Gogh
  3. Michael Jackson
  4. Antoni Gaudi
  5. Karl Marx
  6. Robin Williams
  7. Rosa Parks
  8. Kurt Cobain / Chester Beddingfield
  9. Abraham Lincoln
10. Charles Darwin