For months, experts have been highlighting the hidden effects of the Corona (COVID-19) pandemic, the most notable of which is the mounting stress on our mental health.
Naturally, the quantity of fatalities, tests, and the accessibility of medical care, ventilators, and personal protective equipment were our top concerns. Then, we had to cut back on in-person work, stop the majority of travel, and tell people to stay in. Following this, millions of impacted people and businesses received emergency loans and assistance.
However, the crisis does not appear to be fading away, and tensions continue to rise. Perhaps the greatest danger will emerge now, as stages of rage, depression, exhaustion, and suicide have begun as a result of the millions of unemployed workers and the strain on programs designed to assist them.
The growing crisis of mental health may hide all other consequences, but it always worsens them. According to Time magazine, one in every five adults in the United States suffers from severe depression each year, and that's before the added stresses and concerns of this year's global health crisis, racial unrest, and stalled economy.
What do we need to know about depression and suicide?
Some types of depression are caused by a chemical imbalance, an illness, or an injury. Individuals in these cases may receive medical treatment in addition to talk therapy, but aside from psychological or medical causes, there are many external circumstances that influence depression, such as isolation, anxiety, excessive use of electronic devices, bullying, economic insecurity, debt, and unemployment.
While frustration is understandable among the vulnerable, it is interesting to note that wealthy and successful business owners may be at a higher risk of major depression. Expectations are high for them, and in difficult times, the risk of failure or public embarrassment, as well as the impact of failure on employees, investors, and families, is high. These difficult times include unexpected situations, such as the suicide of film producer and philanthropist Steve Bing at the age of fifty-five.
Bing's story, unfortunately, is not unique. Consider the young and highly successful entrepreneur Ivan Anz. He was the founder of Equity & Help, and he had been an entrepreneur since he was seven years old, when he bought candy to sell to friends at a higher price. He currently leads a company that is ranked among the top 500 in the world and has received numerous awards.
Evans read a recent Forbes article about a Robinhood investor named Alexander Kearns, a 20-year-old University of Nebraska student. He returned home from college and now lives in Naperville, Illinois, with his parents. He, like many other young people, opened an account with a millennial-focused investment firm to make commission-free trades.
He then began experimenting with put and call options, which were risky at the time and are now even riskier as the market experiences extreme fluctuations on a daily basis. When his trades were settled on June 10, his account showed that the remaining balance was minus $730,165. While the online statement perplexed Kearns, his actual net worth at the time was around $16,000, according to the company's founders.
Cairns killed himself after writing an angry letter to Robin Hood in which he claimed he had no idea what he was doing.
Anz was clearly terrified; he said, "He could have done what this person did." He was a competitive entrepreneur who founded a radio show and marketing company, established Toyota dealerships in Latin America, won regional business awards, and was a business prodigy with wealth beyond his wildest dreams at the age of 20.
He appeared to be happy up until he started to see advertisements online for people who were more successful than him. He saw on Instagram and Facebook that truly successful experts were learning to double their wealth in a year, six months, or even weeks, and in their photos, they drove Ferraris and lived in palaces.
When is financial success insufficient?
Anz set out to achieve his goals by studying the Forex market, options, and a variety of high-risk investments in order to learn the secrets of "turning $1,000 into $1,000,000 in a week."
But he was unhappy, and he felt that his accomplishments were secondary in a world where anything was possible. He began arguing with his wife, and he fought with his parents for the first time in his life. He slept for only one hour every night.
His entrepreneurial spirit had vanished as his sole goal became the pursuit of enormous financial success. Then came his "Cairns moment," when he realized in an instant that six months of hard work, sleepless nights, and anxiety had resulted in one thing: a massive loss. He was almost bankrupt, having lost $238,000.
As a result, he experienced a loss of identity. He felt a deep void in his life, as if everything he had done up to that point had been in vain. He knew exactly how Cairns felt and how close he was to making a decision similar to his.
Anz was lucky that his wife Bella and family remained by his side. Bella found a spiritual advisor who could see him.
"I realized my thoughts were not reflecting my personality," he recalls. "I am a human being with control over my mind and body."
When he realized that staring nervously at the graphs and charts on the screen every day wasn't helping, his mental health improved and he adopted a vegan diet that restored his balance and health.
Then, while in the shower, he was filled with ideas for what to do. With the last $3,000 he had and Bella left to the United States, and he devised a strategy for his current company, Equity & Help, which invested in small foreclosed properties, cleaned and renovated them, and then gave them away to low-income families who were unable to secure credit or pay high enough amounts to purchase a home through traditional means.
Families paid roughly two-thirds of what they would have paid in rent, but enough to provide a good return to investors. During that time, they assisted with additional home improvements. This model is sustainable for investors because, in addition to the returns, it gives them the feeling that their money is supporting and assisting their families. Anz refers to this as "philanthropic investing."
The overall experience had a profound impact on him, and despite experiencing shame and loss, as well as severe depression and loss of mental and physical health, he achieved great success. He now freely shares his experience in the hope that it will assist other business owners.
Strategies for protecting and ensuring mental health
To protect and ensure mental health, ANZ recommends the following:
1. The goal of work and investment should not be limited to money
He claims that it is essential for business owners, investors, and new employees to work in a company that is founded on the principles of sustainability and charitable investment, whether it is their own or someone else's. The goal must be big enough to persuade them to work hard and put in time and effort, rather than just making money.
2. Recognizing that success measured in terms of luxury is a mirage
Many so-called "gurus" who claim to have the only secrets to instant wealth are con artists. Even when they are operating legally, the wealth they represent is either fabricated, borrowed, or obtained through educational events and products rather than through the methods they teach. Interestingly, many well-known "tycoons" are now reeling from the global health crisis, having lost millions from events.
They borrowed money to buy many of their actual real estate investments by up to 85%, and all of their investments will vanish. The vast majority of stock trading experts engage in questionable practices that involve terrifying risks. Anz believes that true financial freedom consists of knowledge, control, spiritual power, emotional fulfillment, joy, legacy, and goals, rather than chasing money for the sake of chasing money.
3. Recognize that physical health supports mental and emotional health
As Anz discovered, engaging in activities you enjoy, eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, and spending time with important family members or friends are all important factors in restoring happiness and emotional balance, so prioritize these healthy components.
4. Do not be afraid to seek specialized help
Anz recommends carefully reviewing the resources you use, so keep doing so even if the help you're receiving is insufficient or you've tried and failed to help someone else. When Anz realizes he is in trouble, he puts pressure on his wife to find a suitable professional advisor, even though their finances have collapsed, and claims that no failure is so severe that it cannot be improved with a little professional assistance.
ANZ's experience embodies the findings of recent depression and suicide studies. Economic security is a huge factor in the emotional security that supports mental health, and the global health crisis and economic downturn will affect hundreds of thousands of employees and employers in the United States and abroad in 2020, and likely for several seasons to come, so mental health risks have never been higher than they are now.
So, what can we do to change this?
We must do everything we can, collectively and individually, to reach out, to provide emotional and financial relief, to check on our community and the people around us, and to focus on ways in which we can improve and help.
According to Anz, we must also become "philanthropists" to the greatest extent possible, finding purpose and passion in overcoming obstacles while creating new ways of communicating and relieving the stress of those around us, enhancing and building our own well-being in the process.
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