It doesn't take long to compile an impressive list of successful people who also struggle with mental illness. Comedian/actor Jim Carrey suffered from clinical depression, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling also struggled with depression, entrepreneur/business mogul/founder of CNN Ted Turner lives with bipolar disorder, competitive athlete Herschel Walker announced he suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.
Statistics has shown the link between mental illness and success. A 2008 study published in the College of Cincinnati Law Review suggests that business executives have almost twice the risk of developing depression compared to the general population. In 2015, College of California San Francisco researcher Dr. Michael Freeman found that 49 percent of entrepreneurs who started a business suffered from mental illness. The Help Musicians UK organization found in a 2016 survey that 71.1 percent of musicians reported panic attacks or anxiety, while 68.5 percent struggled with depression.
So, why do so many successful people struggle with mental illness, whether they're smart business people, creative artists and writers, or high achievers? The answer to this question is perhaps something like the chicken and the egg question - which came first? The mental illness or the success?
The link between success and mental illness
Upon closer examination, one reason that mental illness and high performance go hand in hand might be because of what it takes to be successful in the first place.
"Many of the traits needed to be a successful entrepreneur align with some of the symptoms of mental illness," Crystal I. Lee, Ph.D., owner of LA Concierge Psychologist, tells Talkspace. "For example, people with bipolar disorder think big and reach for the stars. They can be visionaries who think outside the box and develop very ambitious goals and plans."
Accordingly, qualities that describe a great entrepreneur or creative person, someone willing to take the risks often necessary for success, overlap with mental illness. Freeman cites "creativity, extroversion, open-mindedness and risk-taking" as some of these traits as a result of his study for CNN. Dr. David Linden, a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, adds "obsession, dedication, the quest for novelty [and] a strong drive to succeed" to the list in Forbes
Many of these traits are also hallmarks of a number of mental illnesses and addictions, such as obsession in obsessive-compulsive disorder or risk-taking and novelty-seeking in bipolar disorder. Although, of course, these characteristics don't always indicate mental illness, in some cases they may be the reason why people with mental illness excel in their jobs.
"As we can see with some very successful people, people can be quite successful despite struggling with their mental health," Lee says. "It's important to see that they can be successful because their environment plays to the person's strengths... It's about the environment (i.e., the job) matching the person's strengths."
The pressure of success
But there is more to the story. Success comes at a price, whether it's the heavy financial responsibilities, performance expectations or a certain level of fame and public scrutiny. All the stress and pressure added to the growing demands can lead directly to the beginnings of bigger problems.
Success can also lead to isolation and self-denial. When a business really takes off, it takes a lot of time and the necessary space to manage it. This can cause many of the social connections and moments of centering that would otherwise boost our mental health to take a back seat.
"When you start taking elite big leaps upward, that's when things change," psychologist Deborah Serani told Forbes. "Those are the things that give life structure and joy, and people can lose a lot of that richness when they're busy 24/7 with a business."
If the balance between success and mental health is left untouched, it can lead to stress and burnout and even full-blown mental illness.
"Being at the top means little time for self-care, family time or moments of quiet - a recipe for burnout," Lee says. "The incredible stress associated with success can actually trigger mental illness."
The stigma of getting help
There is still a stigma attached to seeking help for mental illness, but for successful people who feel pressured to stay on top, admitting that it's time to seek help can be an even bigger hurdle. This could be another reason why so many successful people struggle with mental illness.
"People who are very successful fear being perceived as weak or incapable. They pride themselves on being able to do anything - it's part of their identity," Wilding says. "For that reason, they often have a harder time asking for help. They tell themselves they need to buckle down and work harder, which only makes things worse
Still, it's important for those struggling to get help. A mental health professional is in the best position to help us heal and get us back on track. Mental illness is usually not something we can or should handle on our own. And while access to quality mental health care is a financial barrier for many, those who are successful may face other treatment issues.
"For them, it's harder to get quality care. They don't necessarily have the time to see a therapist and end up suffering in silence," says Lee, who runs a concierge practice.
Redefining success
Whether it's the fact that successful careers have characteristics consistent with many mental illnesses, the stress and pressure of success itself, or the strong stigma against seeking help, there's also an opportunity to revolutionize the way we as a society think about mental health. Personal openness is always a choice, but when successful people talk about their own problems, it can have a big impact on those around us.
"When people see people who are leaders in their industry using the strengths of their illness and/or rising above the problems, it gives people a different understanding of what it means to live with mental illness," Lee says. "It gives people hope and humanizes the struggle for those who don't struggle with it and never have. It's no longer this scary thing, but a person they know and maybe even admire
How we can support those who are successfully coping with mental illness - and, in fact, anyone who is struggling with anything - may depend on how we redefine "success."
"I think for too long we've defined success in terms of status and money alone," Wilding says. "But true success is about being comfortable in your own skin and understanding who you're."
Those are wise words we can agree with.
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