What Happens When a High-Achiever Hits a Mental Health Wall? with Eric Kussin
What do you do when you've built a career most people dream of — and then lose everything to your own mind?
Rick and Tisha sit down with Eric Kussin, former Chief Revenue Officer with the Florida Panthers and founder of #SameHere Global, for one of the most powerful conversations PE3 has ever had. Eric spent over 15 years at the top of professional sports — NBA, NHL, the works — before a severe mental health crisis left him bed-bound for more than two and a half years.
He talks openly about burnout, treatment resistance, ECT, and the moment he finally said "I need help." And out of that darkness, he built a movement. #SameHere Global is now in K-12 schools, college campuses, pro sports teams, corporations, and government agencies — all with one message: mental health is a universal experience, not a personal failing.
This episode doesn't flinch. It's raw, real, and exactly the kind of conversation educators need to hear.
00:00 "I started to lose interest in things."
18:24 "I was hired to build it the right way."
19:01 "I didn't notice it as a sign."
20:35 "I was pouring more into my work."
26:48 "The issues are in the tissues."
27:17 "How do we work on reconnecting the two?"
28:52 "I want to create this company because..."
30:59 "The smallest tasks were so mountainous."
32:03 "What is wrong with me?"
41:47 "I need help."
57:33 "I wrote a book about my experience."
59:02 "I was deemed treatment resistant."
1:05:38 "The compounding of trauma — complex CPTSD."
1:09:09 "What if I get sick? What if I die?"
1:13:35 "You can't attack this problem at all."
1:20:46 "You don't taste what you don't have."
1:27:35 "Everyone is going through something."
1:30:09 "Emotional pain is emotional pain."
About Eric Kussin
Eric Kussin founded and leads #SameHere — The Global Mental Health Movement, dedicated to normalizing mental health as a universal experience affecting "5-in-5" people through life's inevitable challenges. A magna cum laude Cornell graduate, Eric built a 15+ year career in professional sports — starting at the NBA League Office and advancing to Chief Revenue Officer with the Florida Panthers. A severe mental health crisis in his mid-30s left him bed-bound for over 2½ years. Through integrative healing, he recovered and launched #SameHere in 2017, uniting athletes, celebrities, experts, advocates, and everyday people to promote open conversations and proactive wellbeing. #SameHere delivers programs to K-12 schools, college campuses, professional teams, corporations, and agencies like the NYPD and Department of Defense. He co-hosts the podcast We're All A Little Crazy with NHL star Theo Fleury and is the author of the upcoming book DiagNOsis: How We Defeat the Mental Health Epidemic by Labeling Less and Connecting More.
Follow Eric Kussin on:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samehere_global
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samehere_global/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SameHereGlobal
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@samehere_global
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-kussin
Website: https://samehereglobal.org/
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