Music legend Brian Wilson, who founded the Beach Boys, died just recently at the age of 82.

If you're like me, you can probably sing so many of his hits by heart.

Good vibrations.

Help me Rhonda.

Help me, Rhonda. And surfing USA.

But it's the real story behind Brian Wilson that makes him such an inspiration, particularly to someone like me that focuses on mental health, mental illness, and the struggle

between the two. Here's how the obituary headlines describe Brian Wilson. Beach Boy, rock and roll

visionary. Summers Poet Laureate. Papporteur and Leader., troubled genius. Why a troubled genius? Well, you may know

some of this story, some of it you may not. Brian was abused by his father when he was growing up.

He was controlled and really struggled dealing with all of that.

He had mental health struggles that led him into isolation, even at the height of the Beach Boys' success.

At a time when you would think he would be on top of the world and really basking in the glory

and the adulation and having fun, these were often hellish times for him. We know that because he

talks about it. He told people about it. He actually experienced audio hallucinations and was later

diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder. He suffered from

drug addiction, and by 1973, he rarely left his Bel Air home. He lived in isolation and just

didn't feel comfortable getting out into the world and being around other people. His book describes his first mental breakdown on a plane in 1964.

He was traveling to Houston for a concert, and he just got overwhelmed.

And he started crying and making shrieking noises.

Even then, he struggled to control himself.

He screamed into a pillow and just spun out of his seat

was really down on the cabin floor, just doing everything he could to keep it together. At the

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