We all at some point in our lives get to a point where everything just decide to get sour, where we get to go through this terrible experience of depression. Today I’m going to talk briefly about another man who shared his experience of depression in a form of a book. I personally have never done a book review before, this is my first of many to come. So bear with me, it might not be as great as one you’ve read elsewhere (written by a professional), however I do believe I will get better at it in time. The book has 0 reviews and 12 ratings on goodreads, now that makes it more challenging and very interesting because I happen to be the first to write a review for this book. So here we go.
Title: LOST AND FOUND
Subtitle: My journey to hell and back
Author: Mike Limpkin
Publisher: Human and Rousseau (Pty) Ltd
Place of Publication: Cape Town
Publication: 1995
Pages: 163
ISBN number: 0-7981-3406-2
Foreword written by Dr Bernard Levinson
This is a non-fiction book, a story of a man who has everything a man could ever want in life. A beautiful wife who supports him in all he does, who encourages his dreams and aspirations, and most importantly; pushes him to be the best she knows he has the capacity to become. She is a speech therapist. They have two beautiful kids, twins of 5 years old and he had now become one of the leading admen in SA and Canada. Every advertising company would Love to have him on board, he is a wanted man- he is that good.
South Africa is where his family resides, where he was born and raised; it is where he invented himself. He graduated at Wits University and started out on his journey to become the best there is in the ad business. Soon after graduation he gets a job at Grey offices at Rosebank in a company called Colgate Palmolive, as a Product Manager. He had a small direct selling business already when he got the job. He had honours degree in Marketing- he was a credible- He was good. Few years following his appointment he joins Grey Phillips as a senior client service director.
He does pretty well there too, then the fairytale begins. He sends applications to 22 companies in Canada, out of all the companies he got contacted by one of the biggest in the list, Ogilvy and Mather- one he never considered could take him in.
You could say that all the others didn’t call him because even the owners were intimidated, they couldn’t afford him . His family joins him there and starts a new life. They get there, settles well, the kids settle in school; his wife finds a job there too- Lovely fairytale. He thrives in his new job, he was so good you would want to bewitch him or suck his dick to get some of that greatness he had in him. Okay, let’s get to business now.
Everything he touched in the ad world turned to gold, every company escalated as soon as he joined it, you’d swear he is on drugs or something. All is well, his wife convinces him to buy a house there, they do.
Then out of the blue, he is hit by depression. Out of the blue, everything is going well and all- then the unexpected happens. Such a strong man of such intellect, who doesn’t need anything. He started underperforming, isolated himself. He went from doctor to doctor, psychiatrist to psychiatrist, physiologist to psychologist. No change, no one could help him. His wife started to be angry with him because he was shutting her out, he felt sorry for himself- while having so much pride that he didn’t tell his employers about his condition. He suffers alone for a long time, then by the fear of losing his wife, he decides to tell his bosses. He thought they would be angry or disappointed, actually they did the complete opposite. Knowing his capabilities, they couldn’t let him go, they gave him leave to sort himself out. Two weeks holiday in Disney Land together with his family, at the expense of the company- he was good- just depressed they believed. He came back from the holiday still the same, actually worse. Clients lost faith in him due to the incompetent energy he now portrayed. They had to let him go. They did, his condition got worse. He had a reputation, that worked in his favour as he got a call from another company to join them as a director. He did join, three months were good and then he portrays negative energy again.
In 6 months he is out of work again. Hilary, being the amazing woman that she is, carries the family on her shoulders. She takes care of her husband and kids while also having to take care of herself. Mike gets Lazy, he stops trying. Everything he used to Love now means nothing to him, he becomes a clean hobo. His wife gets pissed, she threatens she would take the kids and leave if he doesn’t get his shit together. That threat did help him, he decides to join a small company-thinking maybe he will find himself in a small enterprise. He went for three years, company after company, emotionally abusing his wife because he didn’t get help. You cannot help a man who doesn’t think he needs help. He loses the job again in less than 3 months to join another big ad company, he believes his skill is getting messed up in the small company he joined. He loses it again and finally his wife chase him out, the story begins again; doctor to doctor, psychiatrist to psychiatrist, physiologist to psychologist and still no help at all.
Looking at this man, you could say he is crazy to be depressed. He visits his mom in Johannesburg who now was dying from cancer. Even on top of the experience, she still manages to inject strength into his son. He goes back to Canada and moves back in with his family a better man. They decided after some time to move back to SA. They did, and moved into his daddy in law’s house.
Just using your imagination: What do you think happened after this?
