WALKER, Mich. _ By most accounts, Doug Meijer should have been on top of the world.
One of the richest people in Michigan, helping to oversee Meijer, the giant grocery retailer owned by his family, he was living in an incredible home and more.
But keeping up appearances can be overwhelming. Particularly when things aren't as they seem.
The wheels came off the wagon in 2011.
His marriage fell apart and he got divorced. His father, Fred Meijer _ an icon in west Michigan and patriarch of the well-known family _ passed away the day after Thanksgiving. And if things couldn't get any worse, they did as he was diagnosed with cancer.
The life-altering situations left him feeling sad, empty and trapped.
He had earlier in life had occasional moments in which he felt these feelings but never anything of this magnitude.
"I wasn't happy. There was something missing," Meijer said during a walk at Meijer headquarters outside of the western Michigan city of Grand Rapids.
"I kept trying to talk myself out of being unhappy," he added.
Like millions of Americans, Meijer was diagnosed with depression.
He eventually found the right treatment. And he began the process of getting his life back on track.
Today, he's in a better place.
Which is why he's talking about his battle with depression in hopes it might motivate others suffering from mental illness to get help. He wants to change the conversation about mental illness and the stigma too often associated with it.
One in five Americans suffers from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or other mental health disorders.
Mental illness does not discriminate and impacts every neighborhood, every college and every business. And every family _ even one of the wealthiest in the nation.
The conversation has gotten attention as celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Demi Lovato, Beyonce and Prince William and Prince Harry have talked about their own mental health challenges.
But in corporate America, it's not talked about, at least not in first person.
Meijer is a board member of the privately held firm while his brother Hank is executive chairman. The company includes 240 stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Michigan has been home to advocates who've boldly talked about their own health struggles.
NBA legend and Lansing native Magic Johnson talked about his HIV a generation ago, and former first lady Betty Ford, who also hails from Grand Rapids, did the same for substance abuse and breast cancer.
Though it isn't a role he aspired to, Doug Meijer is doing the same as he talks about his battle with depression. He knows how devastating it can be.
Besides the illness' impact on individuals and families, the National Alliance of Mental Illness, or NAMI, reports serious mental illness costs Americans $193.2 billion in annual lost earnings.
And the Center for Prevention and Health estimates that mental illness and related substance abuse issues cost employers between $79 billion and $105 billion each year.
