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Someone mentioned this here on HN and possibly setting the house on fire but was dismissed as unfounded. I actually realise that they knew something... It is s

Someone mentioned this here on HN and possibly setting the house on fire but was dismissed as unfounded. I actually realise that they knew something... It is sad that Tony Hsieh didn’t get the help that he needed and instead tried to self medicate in order to get away from all that. This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind this issue is too damaging is why we need to normalize the discourse around mental health if we want to avoid this type of tragedies. I’m not actively suffering (and am not as bright as Tony) but had some bouts of depression and hypomania in the past and know how afraid I was to let anyone official (eg. at work, school) know about my suffering because once out it always trails you like a cloud and will always deem you inferior to others. Luckily I was able to escape the black hole and have been good and calm for about 10 years and learned to never slip into that again. But there’s a remnant fear of a possibility of going back to it. Along with that there is the fear of falling begind, loosing job, becoming isolated and homelessness. This fear is clearly exacerbated in the US where one or a few slip-ups turns everything into an ever accelerating down-spiral. Tony had so much more to loose as his cliff was much higher than an ordinary person. He could have seeked professional help and he probably did but too late in the game. Had we not have this stigma around, he and others could get the help early on when much more could be done. Self-medication with drugs works temporarily but its abuse is clearly a quick path to compelte madness and early death. I personally stay away from drugs except from an ocasional puff of weed, the once a decade or two experience with LSD and the weekend bottle of beer. Rest in peace Tony, you will be missed

nxmnxm99 6y ago
> This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind this issue is too damaging is why we need to normalize the discourse around mental health if we want to avoid this type of tragedies. Where exactly is the "stigma" of mental health in tech nowadays? We're blasted day and night to the point where apparently every other person is "battling mental health issues". Maybe there's a deeper issue here than "stigma" and seeing overpriced therapists.
- naikrovek 6y ago
  > Where exactly is the "stigma" of mental health Are you blind? It's EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME.
- QuadmasterXLII 6y ago
  There is no stigma in the pretty words from HR and massive stigma in the actions of HR
  - zarkov99 6y ago
    What does HR have to do with anything/?
    - idclip 6y ago
      They can tell us about their fruit baskets and flat hierarchies. HR is often a great example of how fucked it all is. (Good humane HR is rare)
    - goldenchrome 6y ago
      HR is the conservative arm of execs. They're responsible for setting company policies that reduce the risk of employee disputes and increase the chance of employees staying productive. That's why they say "HR isn't your friend". They have an outsized impact in large, chaotic companies and as a result they end up shaping the culture. HR is the lackey serving the demands of the capitalist machine.
    - imtringued 6y ago
      If you admit you are chronically ill in the workplace you admit you won't ever be as productive as other "healthy" (aka those who didn't admit they are ill) employees. During layoffs you'll be the first to go.
  - bilbopotter 6y ago
    Exactly this. It's all we care then if it impacts your work - boom you're out.
- 6y ago
fblp 6y ago
I agree with the sentiment of your comment, but in this case it did appear that he was seeing a therapist so he was getting some professional help. I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner. But it's easy to assume a billionaire is going to be fine and "tony is just being tony".
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  > I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner. I've seen or read interviews with the people surrounding Howard Hughes and Whitney Houston who were very close to them. When it comes to celebrities and billionaires, unless you're immediate family, your voice is often drowned out by people who are on the payroll or who stand to benefit. Howard Hughes was involved in a number of airplane accidents, and that likely contributed to his Rx addiction. He had a business rep inside his inner circle for most of his adult life, but IIRC his caretakers and some other people got close enough to isolate Hughes later on. In the case of Houston, one of her uncles said he recognized the symptoms of heroin addiction during a TV performance, tried to get in touch, but was prevented by other relatives from doing so. Prince was an unusual case because he OD'ed from fentanyl in fake Vicodin pills: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-criminal-charges-prince-s-overdose-death-prosecutor-announces-n867491 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-criminal-charges-pri...

nxmnxm99 6y ago

> This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind this issue is too damaging is why we need to normalize the discourse around mental health if we want to avoid this type of tragedies. Where exactly is the "stigma" of mental health in tech nowadays? We're blasted day and night to the point where apparently every other person is "battling mental health issues". Maybe there's a deeper issue here than "stigma" and seeing overpriced therapists.

naikrovek 6y ago
> Where exactly is the "stigma" of mental health Are you blind? It's EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME.
QuadmasterXLII 6y ago
There is no stigma in the pretty words from HR and massive stigma in the actions of HR
- zarkov99 6y ago
  What does HR have to do with anything/?
  - idclip 6y ago
    They can tell us about their fruit baskets and flat hierarchies. HR is often a great example of how fucked it all is. (Good humane HR is rare)
  - goldenchrome 6y ago
    HR is the conservative arm of execs. They're responsible for setting company policies that reduce the risk of employee disputes and increase the chance of employees staying productive. That's why they say "HR isn't your friend". They have an outsized impact in large, chaotic companies and as a result they end up shaping the culture. HR is the lackey serving the demands of the capitalist machine.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    If you admit you are chronically ill in the workplace you admit you won't ever be as productive as other "healthy" (aka those who didn't admit they are ill) employees. During layoffs you'll be the first to go.
- bilbopotter 6y ago
  Exactly this. It's all we care then if it impacts your work - boom you're out.
6y ago

fblp 6y ago

I agree with the sentiment of your comment, but in this case it did appear that he was seeing a therapist so he was getting some professional help. I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner. But it's easy to assume a billionaire is going to be fine and "tony is just being tony".

redis_mlc 6y ago
> I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner. I've seen or read interviews with the people surrounding Howard Hughes and Whitney Houston who were very close to them. When it comes to celebrities and billionaires, unless you're immediate family, your voice is often drowned out by people who are on the payroll or who stand to benefit. Howard Hughes was involved in a number of airplane accidents, and that likely contributed to his Rx addiction. He had a business rep inside his inner circle for most of his adult life, but IIRC his caretakers and some other people got close enough to isolate Hughes later on. In the case of Houston, one of her uncles said he recognized the symptoms of heroin addiction during a TV performance, tried to get in touch, but was prevented by other relatives from doing so. Prince was an unusual case because he OD'ed from fentanyl in fake Vicodin pills: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-criminal-charges-prince-s-overdose-death-prosecutor-announces-n867491 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-criminal-charges-pri...