We are talking more about mental illness. Conversations about its impact are increasingly taking place around dinner tables, in classrooms and in the workplace as mental illness becomes less of a taboo topic.
Canadian Family Offices, in partnership with Healthing.ca, recently contributed to the conversation by focusing on a group that can often be overlooked: those deemed “successful” by society. We sometimes think of this cohort—high-achieving executives, heads of wealthy families, elite athletes or celebrities—as self-assured and in control. However, success doesn’t make them immune to emotional and psychological struggles. Often, their prominent positions can create even greater obstacles to seeking help.
Our panelists—Dr. Ben McCutchen, Chief of Psychiatry, and Paul Obermeyer, RN, Treatment Consultant, from The Residence at Homewood; and Elke Rubach, founder of Rubach Wealth—brought uniquely informed perspectives to this topic. Here are some highlights:
What are some common personality traits among high-performing individuals?
Dr. Ben McCutchen: The traits that can lead to great success in business, at home or school can also make that person vulnerable to a mental health condition. An example might be perfectionism, or an adherence to details, exactness and high expectations. These characteristics can propel somebody forward but, if left unchecked, can result in challenges.
High-performing people often have high emotional intelligence. They’re very aware of the world around them and perceptive about what others might need from them. They have a strong sense of accountability and collaboration. These are the strengths we need to optimize when we’re helping people recover from a mental health condition.
Elke Rubach: The higher they are, the more weight they have on their shoulders. They sometimes feel that changing their minds, or switching routes or directions of whatever plan they had, will be seen by others as failure. They cannot allow failure or disappointment.
What healthcare challenges typically impact this group?
Paul Obermeyer: This population tends to derive a lot of identity from their achievements, which can be good, but can also tip over and be very harmful. Another struggle we see around identity is transition periods, whether it’s an NHL player facing a career-ending injury or an executive who has given his life to his career moving into retirement and now feels he has no purpose.
I typically see a lot of anxiety, some imposter syndrome, burnout and exhaustion from trying to keep up with the pressures many of these individuals are under. I see a lot of substance-use disorders emerging from ineffective coping.
Rubach: I frequently see women who have a lot of guilt because they’ve been working hard on breaking the glass ceiling and have missed the school play or the birthday or the parents’ gathering. The constant pressure of performing, delivering, going from meeting to meeting every 30 minutes is non-stop, which can lead to burnout.
What role does stigma play for this group in seeking treatment?
McCutchen: There’s certainly a lot of taboo that remains. That internalized stigma comes from our experiences, especially for high-performing professionals concerned about the impact on their career, on their life insurance or disability insurance, even within the protection of confidentiality.
Rubach: Sometimes, people think of going to a therapist as a failure. They worry they’ll be considered crazy, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Ultimately, you’re healing yourself and trying to solve a problem that might not be as complicated as you think.
What are the risks of leaving a mental health illness untreated?
McCutchen: When a condition is left untreated, certain changes can happen over time that can make it harder to treat or slower to recover from, or have a higher risk of relapse. That said, any mental health condition is treatable. But recovery is sometimes more robust, quicker and more nimble when we can get to it early.
And when members of this high-performing cohort do seek treatment, what do they tell you about that experience?
McCutchen: Commonly, ‘I wish I had done this sooner.’ When people come in, they can be reluctant. Later, they’ll tell me, ‘I didn’t know this was going to work,’ ‘I wasn’t sure if the time I was going to dedicate to this would have an impact.’ And then, leaving treatment, it’s ‘I wish I’d done this five years ago. I don’t know why I was so hesitant to go down this road.’
Obermeyer: When they come to treatment, this population wants to be busy during treatment because that’s the life they’re used to. They eventually learn they need time to process their therapy. It’s part of the treatment plan developed by our interdisciplinary team to insert downtime for people.
Some things they might at first think are hokey, like horticulture therapy, are actually very therapeutic. That’s one of the best things I see here—people poo-pooing the idea of horticulture therapy, and then weeks later, these same people are showcasing what they made in horticulture therapy. It’s an example of improvements people don’t anticipate in therapy that add to their success.
What should C-suite executives or anyone in a high-pressure job keep in mind when it comes to their mental well-being?
Rubach: Be the role model to remove stigma and really talk at the dinner table with your kids about your wins, your losses and your stresses. Because when you share that with your family, there’s a good chance you’ll find empathy.
McCutchen: I’d encourage people to consider what an investment in their well-being looks like. Even with growing conversations around mental health, there is still an underestimation of the value of taking care of your mental health and how it can pay off in terms of quality of life, your relationships, and success in your career.
About our panelists
Elke Rubach is the principal at Rubach Wealth Holistic Family Advisors in Toronto. She is a Certified Financial Planner and worked as a lawyer with McCarthy Tetrault before founding Rubach Wealth in 2012. Elke is a frequent contributor to Canadian Family Offices, commenting on the emotional and psychological challenges that wealthy individuals and families can face.
Dr. Ben McCutchen is Chief of Psychiatry for The Residence at Homewood, Ravensview and Workplace Mental Health. He is the current academic lead for Homewood Health Centre, and an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at McMaster University. Dr. McCutchen provides assessment and treatment services to adults experiencing a range of difficulties, including mood and anxiety disorders, substance-use disorders and psychosis.
Paul Obermeyer, RN, is a registered nurse and treatment consultant at The Residence at Homewood. In his role as treatment consultant, Paul brings over 25 years of mental-health and addictions experience. With extensive experience in emergency psychiatry, Paul helps assess the individual treatment needs and goals of clients at The Residence.
The link to the full panel discussion is here.
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