Mental health Disorders: Are Entrepreneurs More at Risk?
Since the start of the pandemic, I have been trying to call a few acquaintances in the entrepreneurs ecosystem with a single question: “How are you?”
Although the beginning of the discussion is often superficial — it is hard to accept that we are going through extremely difficult times — quickly, a common point comes back. Many of us are experiencing right now.
Some people are suffering from the downsizing and annihilation of the hard work of the past few years due to the pandemic. More surprisingly, many founders who own hyper-growth businesses due to COVID are also suffering from the stress caused by this growth, recruitment challenges, etc.
This got me wondering why entrepreneurs seem to suffer harder from mental health issues.
While national psychological healthcare statistics are disturbing, they are utterly frightening for tycoons. According to a study by Michael Freeman of the University of California, “tech entrepreneurs are 50% more likely to report having a mental health problem, with some specific conditions being incredibly common among founders.
The founders may:
- suffer from depression 2 times
- suffer from ADHD 6 times
- suffer from substance abuse 3 times
- suffer from bipolar disorder 10 times
- have a psychiatric hospitalization 2 times
- have suicidal thoughts 2 times
Why would entrepreneurs suffer harder? In my opinion (please note that I am by no means a psychologist), here are some hypotheses that could help to understand. These are mostly based on my own story, as well as discussions I have with many entrepreneurs.
Natural selection
Most founders are smart, driven, and skilled people whose resumes could almost certainly land them a high-paying job. Yet we almost always choose the exhausting, uncertain, and more creative founding journey over a well-paying job. I often joke in conferences to say that you have to be “crazy” to be an entrepreneur! Who in the right mind would agree to pay themselves a salary often at 50% of their market value to work twice as much?
Also, founders are almost certainly predisposed to certain conditions (like ADHD) for example. In his book The Da Vinci Method, Garret LoPorto quotes Fortune magazine as saying that people with ADHD are 300% more likely to start their own business than others.
The effect of Instagram-worthy success stories
The stories told by our industry are often even less real than the photos that make the front pages of fashion magazines but are just as destructive. Much like “influencers” posting altered photos that put enormous pressure on young girls by creating an almost unattainable level of beauty, the constant stream of stories about “overnight success” and fundraising creates a norm that becomes unattainable for most of us and increases our sense of not measuring up.
Have to do everything
The magic of a great team lies in building a group with complementary skills. Junior founders don’t have a full team and are expected to do things they’re not well suited for. Working on projects that don’t match a leader’s innate skills tends to be emotionally draining. It’s not uncommon that in an early start, business introverts must initiate and make sales calls while extroverts are forced to sit at a desk and to work in a CRM. Personally, this was one of the aspects, along with my ADHD, which was the most difficult to manage and which often made me sink into deep questions.
Start-ups are “alienating”
The global nature of a start-up often leads founders to spend less time with family, friends and loved ones. As stress in a business increase, we are more likely to work harder at work (a natural response to an emergency). This tendency only further burdens our leadership role and responsibilities by dampening their supportive relationships and reducing their ability to deal with corporate pressures. Everything also comes with comments and pressure from the Entrepreneurs which often criticizes, with good reason, this isolation of the entrepreneur.
The feeling of having to be invincible
There is a lot of pressure on founders to stay stable in times of corporate turmoil. As a result, they are every so often alone when they require others the most. For example, during the pandemic, it was difficult to share with the teams that I too was worried about losing “my job, my company”. It is also often difficult to speak with family or close friends, not wishing to make them feel insecure or out of a feeling that they cannot understand.
Ditto for his co-founder, especially when the problem concerns him! It took me personally years to understand the importance as an entrepreneur of surrounding myself with people to whom I could transparently share my challenges. For my part, the combination of a network of entrepreneurial friends and the regular consultation of a psychologist enabled me to overcome this challenge.
The “I am my business” syndrome
Founders blur the line between themselves and their business in such a way that business failures often feel like personal failures. Losing a client contract or receiving a “no” from an investor can feel like a deeply personal rejection. I’ve talked about it several times in other blogs on Les Affaires, but the separation of me from my business was one of the key elements to regaining stronger mental health.
Financial risk
In addition to the opportunity cost, founders often forego a salary and dedicate a significant portion of their personal capital to their business. This creates enormous financial stress and anxiety which sets up a scenario in which business bankruptcy also creates personal financial ruin. This was my case in 2015 after suffering a fraud in one of my companies. When all your savings are in your business, it feels like living with a Damocles sword and could leave you unable to focus on key tasks, ironically causing your worst fears.
The spiral of stress
Founders find it hard to celebrate small victories because each victory brings the next bigger challenge. The second most stressful moment for us is the one before a major fundraising; the most stressful moment is right after.
I bet just reading the list above got you stressed and made you identify with several factors that cause founder stress. More than ever, we must put good psych evaluation near me at the center of our development, otherwise we will be much more at risk of facing important issues that could harm our development and that of our business.
It is often said that the first step in healing is realizing that you have a problem. For my part, I personally experienced all the situations I mentioned above, but once I became aware of them, I knew how to put in place elements allowing me to find a certain balance. If we recognize and accept our weaknesses and support each other in our imperfections, we will begin to see a healthier and more sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem.