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Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

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Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#51

Post by jimothywales »

loeg wrote: post #34
thomasedwards wrote: post #15

The same way non-billionaires do: there isn’t anything that money can do about it. While ‘only’ worth $150m, Katherine Brosnahan (you may know as Kate Spade) tragically hanged herself last week after suffering for a few years. If $150m can’t buy you out of it, I’m not sure another $850m would. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Spade#Death

You can use some of that money to buy Alprazolam / Clonazepam :-). They're available as relatively inexpensive generics at this point. Maybe not an option if you are totally broke / impoverished, but certainly something billionaires have access to.

You said this in at least 2 different places in this thread, but I hope you understand that 1) all drugs do not have the same effects on different patients and 2) Clonazepam is in the class of drugs known as benzodiapines, which are considered some of the most dangerous and addicting drugs given to patients. In fact, bad withdrawals from benzodiapines often result in worsened anxiety symptoms and at times hallucinations and even delusions.

Throwing around alprazolam/clonazepam as a solution for anxiety is trite and can be damaging. Take caution with them.

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#52

Post by farone »

s-shellfish wrote: post #38
undefined1 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, though one can imagine that being a billionaire also introduces some problems. For one thing it changes family and friend dynamics and that's really a key source of happiness.

It's the same problem that comes from excelling at anything valued, or having any intensely desired quality. You don't know why people want to be around you, and you don't know whether they will still be there if (or when) you no longer have those qualities deemed so desirable.

Not the same, not even close.

Capital is abstracted value that everybody needs. The differences this makes in such a situation is drastically more disorienting.

>and you don't know whether they will still be there if (or when) you no longer have those qualities deemed so desirable

This phenomenon is heartbreaking and surely happens with things like talents and innate characteristics, personality, etc., but it would be very rare with those compared to with capital. When it concerns capital, the issue becomes exponentially more common with exponentially less potential to be understood. When it's happening with more people in a society, it's instances collide and fracture relationships at a far greater rate.

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#53

Post by skinnymuch »

loeg wrote: post #34
thomasedwards wrote: post #15

The same way non-billionaires do: there isn’t anything that money can do about it. While ‘only’ worth $150m, Katherine Brosnahan (you may know as Kate Spade) tragically hanged herself last week after suffering for a few years. If $150m can’t buy you out of it, I’m not sure another $850m would. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Spade#Death

You can use some of that money to buy Alprazolam / Clonazepam :-). They're available as relatively inexpensive generics at this point. Maybe not an option if you are totally broke / impoverished, but certainly something billionaires have access to.

There’s issues with benzos like the one you mentioned. Besides what the other commenter said about withdrawal and other issues, your tolerance will build very quickly with benzos. You can’t just take them daily and have the same or even remotely close to the same effect.

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#54

Post by ehnto »

Cakez0r wrote: post #30
asdfman123 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can quit stressful jobs, or immediately get appointments with great healthcare providers, or go travel in Europe for a year. Let's be fair: money can't solve all your problems, but it can solve some of them. The only problem is that serious mental illness is one of those things that money can't magically fix.

Unlimited wealth can also cause its own set of problems and anxieties that run deeper than "which bank should I use" or "which whim should I indulge next". E.G. Does someone like me or do they just like my money? What should I do with my life now that I'm unfulfilled by indulging my whims?

It's an extension of graduation depression in a way. You have essentially succeeded at the most advertised metric of life, money. If you view life as a linear progression of growing success, then that's the logical conclusion. Good job, you win.

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#55

Post by s-shellfish »

farone wrote: post #52
s-shellfish wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the same problem that comes from excelling at anything valued, or having any intensely desired quality. You don't know why people want to be around you, and you don't know whether they will still be there if (or when) you no longer have those qualities deemed so desirable.

Not the same, not even close. Capital is abstracted value that everybody needs. The differences this makes in such a situation is drastically more disorienting. >and you don't know whether they will still be there if (or when) you no longer have those qualities deemed so desirable This phenomenon is heartbreaking and surely happens with things like talents and innate characteristics, personality, etc., but it would b…

Abstraction and everybody...

That really depends on how you look at what a 'self' and what 'everybody' is, and how 'abstraction' interrelates the two.

Consider an artist in relation to their culture.

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#57

Post by Cakez0r »

ehnto wrote: post #54
Cakez0r wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlimited wealth can also cause its own set of problems and anxieties that run deeper than "which bank should I use" or "which whim should I indulge next". E.G. Does someone like me or do they just like my money? What should I do with my life now that I'm unfulfilled by indulging my whims?

It's an extension of graduation depression in a way. You have essentially succeeded at the most advertised metric of life, money. If you view life as a linear progression of growing success, then that's the logical conclusion. Good job, you win.

And I'd guess this is also why midlife crises are a thing. Once you've got your beautiful family, house, car and stable job, what's next?

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#58

Post by FahadUddin92 »

I think I can answer this because I asked this to Elon Musk around a year ago. Billionaires have higher anxiety and relentless stress. They just hide it from the world. Many develop mental diseases such as anxiety, disorders etc. Here is a link to my conversation with Elon Musk: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/08/03/elon-musk-a...

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#59

Post by [deleted] »

bcantrill wrote: post #50

There was an excellent article on this in the Atlantic on the "Secret Fears of the Super Rich"[1]. The Atlantic article matches my (secondary) experience: while I am (emphatically!) not in this camp (I definitely need to work to pay my mortgage!), I have several close friends who are outrageously wealthy, and I have observed that their lives are not made less stressful by their wealth -- but the specifics change. For…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?

#60

Post by hood_syntax »

Cakez0r wrote: post #30
asdfman123 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can quit stressful jobs, or immediately get appointments with great healthcare providers, or go travel in Europe for a year. Let's be fair: money can't solve all your problems, but it can solve some of them. The only problem is that serious mental illness is one of those things that money can't magically fix.

Unlimited wealth can also cause its own set of problems and anxieties that run deeper than "which bank should I use" or "which whim should I indulge next". E.G. Does someone like me or do they just like my money? What should I do with my life now that I'm unfulfilled by indulging my whims?

> unfulfilled by indulging my whims

You see, that's what I don't get. There are _so_ many things to do that interest me. I will never have enough time to do them.

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