We all know the situation of Amy Winehouse, Robin Williams, Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Maradona and other great public figures. Everyone is very successful and rich, but all suffer from serious mental illness, such as depression and poisoning, which eventually leads to death. The list of rock and pop stars with poisoning and mental health problems is infinite, but what about the stars who are not necessarily under the limelight?

We will soon envy business leaders(CEOs and C-level executives) for their money. But instead of stopping, we asked ourselves what kind of brains we needed to execute and run a company. Freeman(2015)’s article “Are Entrepreneurs Moved by Fire?”, A study conducted in UC San Francisco found that 49% of CEOs suffered from mental illness, of which 32% suffered all their lives. This article first discusses the known cases of CEO/entrepreneur suffering from mental illness, and then describes the case studies of five CEOs and entrepreneurs. They all grew up in Southern California and have been outstanding academically. They have created some startups, but they are still receiving treatment for depression, anxiety, hyperactivity disorder, poisoning and other mental diseases. Conclusion: Sulfur and riots complement each other.

Some of you may remember the 2001 movie “Beautiful Mind.”. This film is based on the life of John Nash. At the age of 22, after receiving a doctorate degree from Princeton University, it established a variety of mathematical principles and partial differential equation theory through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) in 1994, and won the Nobel Prize. At the same time, he fought against editorial schizophrenia and had to quit MIT for a time. Although he may not be CEO, he is a pioneer of basic mathematical principles, which is very important in my book.

If the name Steve Jobs is not new, he may live under the rock for decades. Especially after the 2013 film Jobs was released on Netflix. I want to thank Steve Jobs, the computer that wrote this article and the computer that can be used to read the iPhone. Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple. After the death of Steve Jobs, Apple still has the most advanced technology. He constantly introduces tough and amazing technology, which is impossible, but people who work with him say he can’t stand it. Perhaps because he was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, people believed that he had borderline personality disorder.

Vincent van Gogh is one of the famous artists who used the post impressionist style in all ages, suffering from marginal personality disorder and bipolar affective disorder. He cut off his left ear at the age of 35 and committed suicide in 1890. Beethoven is a classical music artist who plays the most music in history, and also suffers from bipolar disorder. Richard Branson, founder and CEO of Virgin Airlines: ADHD, David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Jet Blue, Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler Magazine Gaz: Bipolar Disorder, CNN Television, and the founder list of CNN TV will continue to open.

Now I want to describe my own experience and the experience of people close to me in my life. Many people, including myself, are the bosses of their own companies. They are talented and graduated from top universities. But we have struggled with mental illness since childhood.

Case 1:

Over the past 36 years, I have really enjoyed meeting some extraordinary souls.(Sometimes I say they are unfortunate because they stay here longer.) It is unfair not to say it from a special person. Although she died for 15 years, she still made me cry when I talked about her. She is the farewell speaker of the class(in a competitive private school in Southern California). She has excellent SAT results and won a scholarship from Stanford University. There, she did an amazing study in the hope of curing cancer. She is a professional harpist who toured with the famous Indian rock band in the early 2000s. She also fought against the deep depression I witnessed with my own eyes. She took antidepressants for this, and died unexpectedly after mixing with other drugs in 2007. On the last day of this year, she will turn 38.

Case 2: A 36 year old woman with a master’s degree in music at the Chicago Opera House is one of the most talented opera singers you have met in your life. After seeing so many competitions among the supranos, she started an all female opera comedy group that mastered improvisation and sketch comedy. At the age of 11, she began to perform opera, and at the age of 14, she began to accept opera seriously. At the same time, she suffered from severe depression and began to receive psychological counseling. The first time I saw a suicide patient go to a mental hospital was after her suicide attempt. We were only sixteen. She thinks that she has found different treatments for her disease. In 2018, she became a health therapist with all clients and websites, so she helped her to some extent.

Case 3: A 36 year old woman with a master’s degree in business and a bachelor’s degree in science is the CEO of a highly profitable recruitment company. I have known her well since I was young. Since then, she has won numerous awards for various things. She had the ability to play drums when we were young and was an important member of the Girl Scout. We began to see her fight against depression and drug abuse in her 20s, and then she was diagnosed with ADHD, all of which were treated with drugs. Through all this, she has a solid professional ethics and performs well as a business leader.

Case 4: I have known a 34 year old woman since she was 5 years old. She always gets an A and a bachelor’s degree from a famous university. She always gets certificates that do not need to learn. She is an all star football player. In her past work, she always got higher wages and higher technical qualifications than she required. She knew that she had mental health problems in high school, so she asked for help, but treatment was not welcomed by her parents. At present, she is diagnosed with general restlessness and depression, and most of the time she struggles with restlessness and emotional fluctuations. She is also the CEO of a fashion company.

Case 5: although it is the last time, it should not be the least important one, myself. Let me start with the bad news. I started taking drugs and alcohol when I was 14 years old, and started eating disorders when I was 15-21 years old. I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Because of my poisoning, I lost my doctorate a few months before graduation. In the past 7 years, there were 10 cases of poisoning complications, 10 cases of overdose in the emergency room, and 2 cases of intentional overdose in the intensive care unit. Now there is good news: I will say on the paper that I look really good. When I was 9 years old, I was classified as a “genius” and arranged to take special courses. At the age of 10, my math scores were two grades higher than mine. He has always been a top student and a top student. I have a gift for mathematics.(I taught in the best university in China from the age of 25 to 29.) At that time, I was the youngest assistant in the university where I obtained a bachelor’s degree. At the age of 22, he completed his master’s degree at the famous University of California(USC), wrote a math book in two languages, and is currently writing a book about my experience in all the above institutions. As the CEO of a guidance company founded in 2011, the company recently reopened. Because last year my performance was more stable.

It is very likely that I will spend the rest of my life inside and outside the organ, but I myself, like other great minds before, are ready to deal with it in the worst case and create miracles. If I have great talent, there will be great demons.

Editor T. Encyclopedia Britannica(June 9, 2022). John Nash. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Editor, Vincent van Gogh, Encyclopedia Britannica, March 26, 2022

Freeman, M.A., Johnson, S.L., Staudenmaier, P.J,&Zisser, M.R.(2015). Entrepreneurs “touched by fire”. Unpublished manuscript.

Christopher Gretel(2018) “Telling about a genius who is not crazy”. Search object:

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Levy, S.(February 20, 2022). Steve Jobs. Encyclopedia Britannica.