How to deal with devastating mental illness in the family business setting

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5 NIV.

Robin Williams, star of movies such as Mrs Doubtfire, Jumanji, and Good Will Hunting was not supposed to have depression much less take his own life on account of mental illness.

After all he was a funny, creative, successful man who had many friends and a loving family surrounding him.

Couldn’t he just have ‘‘dealt with” his problems? Not really. Many people who have never grappled with mental illness and its effects on people might think that it only affects the poor and desperate or those who lack sufficient will power to deal with life’s situations.

Solutions such as positive thinking are often bandied around. Sadly, the reality that confronts us about mental illness is startling.

One in four Americans suffers from some form of mental illness. The number of people with mental illness in Kenya is unknown.

While many mental conditions are inherited, some can be triggered by traumatic events. The most notable recent example of this being after the 2008 post election violence when disturbing signs of mental illness became evident in the camps for the internally displaced, particularly among previously successful individuals who had lost all their worldly possessions.

Lonely and misunderstood, many lost the will to live, slipped into depression and have since either descended into squalor or died. Mental illness need not be a debilitating condition.

Even while the subject is taboo in Kenya, the disease has been largely managed and contained in other countries such as the US. Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s most revered presidents, suffered from what would today be diagnosed as clinical depression.

Secret affair

He is not alone; individuals who have grappled with mental health issues include Catherine Zeta Jones, Mel Gibson (both from bi-polar disorder), Brooke Shields from post partum depression, John Nash (Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences) with paranoid schizophrenia, Michael Phelps (multiple Olympic gold medalist) suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, while Howard Hughes (one of the wealthiest men of his time) suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It is sad that few Africans of notable standing in society openly share information on their mental health issues; even fewer dare to speak about their own struggles with the disease.

Fearing that this might sound a death knell on their reputations, many fight the disease in the secrecy of their homes until the problems tragically explodes through death or destruction.

Leaders of Family Business who either have a member(s) who suffer from mental illness, or who themselves suffer from such a condition, ought to engage the entire family in the management of the condition.

They should realise that isolation of affected individuals is not a solution to dealing with the situation; that it is only through working through the condition together that families can thrive.

Leaders ought to realise that mental illness can be traumatic; that it affects people of all backgrounds. It ought not to be a cause of shame or embarrassment.

Dealing with mental illness in the family setting ought not be a secret affair, leaders of Family Business ought to involve each family member.

Leaders of Family Businesses who are affected by mental illness ought to be at the forefront of contributing to, or formulating policies, to dealing with the condition in society.

They ought to publicly acknowledge how the disease affects them and propose solutions to help others either cope or manage the condition of their loved ones.

Mutua is a Humphrey Fellow and a leadership development consultant focused on family businesses. [email protected]