Mental Illness

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the failed attack on the Capitol Building. Every newspaper or magazine has had pages upon pages of tributes to the survivors and those lost. To the Heroes - civilians, PAPD, FDNY, NYPD...

2,997 people died that day, but thousands more survived. Of those, few, if any, were left unscathed.

Yesterday's New York Post had an article on Howard Lutnik, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, who would have died with 658 of his employees, had he not been taking his son to his first day of kindergarten. The article is on his intense Survivor's Guilt - essentially, on his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although they never called it that. His recurrent nightmares. He still can't talk about that day without crying.

But, according to the Post, "the notoriously tough Lutnick never sought help from a therapist or medication, relying instead on friends and family to get through the toughest days."

I take huge offense at the comment. It implies that seeking help from either a therapist or from medication is a sign of weakness. The CEO was too "tough" to to seek help. Well, Mark DeCambre and Bob Fredericks (the journalists who wrote this particular article), I don't think it's a matter of strength to get through a mental illness. Thousands of people, I'm sure, sought help for their PTSD after the attacks. And no one who made it out of those buildings is weak.

PTSD is a very real illness, just like depression is, just like cancer is. And all three of those can be fatal. Seeking help can save lives. If Howard Lutnick can get through his pain with the help of family and friends, well more power to him (although by the sounds of the article, it really doesn't sound like he has been able to). I'm happy for anyone that can fight a mental illness, diagnosed or not.

People die every day from suicide. People who didn't have to die. Who, had they sought help, maybe would have never felt so hopeless. Insinuating that seeking help, that seeing a therapist, or that taking medications, is a sign of weakness, or that fighting depression on your own is a sign of strength, is a misconception that can prove fatal for many.

The CEO of a company that lost 658 employees, including some family members, ten years ago tomorrow is undoubtedly tough. But not seeking help is not evidence of his toughness.

I believe seeking help is a sign of self-awareness. And, more importantly, it's a sign of strength.

I hope that Howard Lutnick, and everyone, can someday recover from the events of that tragic day 10 years ago. God Bless America.