As a child, when Seth started to read along with his father — high-level math, physics and history books were the staples — the elder Mr. Priebatsch would often turn the books upside down, adding a degree of difficulty to the experience, and presumably some fun. The upshot is that Seth can now read as quickly upside down as right-side up, something to keep in mind if you ever find yourself sitting across a desk from him. “People assume that if you’ve got a sheet of paper in front of you that no one else can read it,” he says, “and that is false.”
[A fun read on the benefits of mental unrest. When hypomania looks like an asset, can we call it a "disorder"? (After all, it's in the DSM-IV.) This question is a bit of a red herring; it poses a dichotomy where none exists (i.e., you're either sick or you're not). The trickier and truer question is, if illness has its benefits then how should we treat it? Hopefully no one would want to "cure" a successful entrepreneur like Seth – except, perhaps, his future wife and family. According to the article, he sleeps at the office and works every waking hour. He doesn't even bother with friends.
This may work for him now, but will it always? That's up to him, I suppose. But a determination to avoid hypomania's drawbacks, in this case anyway, can be seen as a drawback itself. It's understandable why Seth doesn't pursue relationships – he sounds terrible at them. But life demands a certain kind of mental flexibility. It's nigh impossible to avoid change, even in the realm of our own desires.
I hope I don't sound like I'm pathologizing Seth. Barring the violently ill, treatment only belongs to those who seek it. What I'm advocating for, really, is a more fluid concept of "mental illness" in the first place. Illness needn't be a burden or an albatross. Often, as in Seth's case, we may prefer to think of it as a "condition" instead. However we classify them, though, states like hypomania should be recognized as such. Hypomania may be a gift to Seth right now, but – like all gifts – it may come to feel like a curse in other arenas. Such is the nature of reality itself, not just mental illness. -Ed.]
photo: Man & Wifey
Douglas Faneuil is the founder of Living Proof Productions, a not-for-profit devoted to suicide prevention based in New York City. He also designs database solutions for companies throughout the Northeast.