The Unspoken Emotional Cost of Being an Entrepreneur
Founders who define their lives around their jobs may face higher rates of burnout
“Are entrepreneurs touched with fire?” asked Michael A. Freeman, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, in a study he co-authored in 2015, which analyzed the relationship between entrepreneurship and mental health. The paper opens with an image of Aaron Swartz, the young co-founder of Reddit and the creator of RSS, who hanged himself in 2013 after years of grappling with depression.
Successful entrepreneurs achieve hero status in American culture. We regularly celebrate the illusion of overnight success, with headlines applauding how much money a startup raised and how quickly it grew. But with so many entrepreneurs feeling compelled to fake it till you make it, not everyone makes it out unscathed, especially when it comes to mental health. I know this from firsthand experience — founding my own startup left me exhausted and unhappy. Though I’ve since been able to adapt to the stress of running a company without persistent mental anguish, I know there are many others who suffer quietly.
Freeman’s study of 242 entrepreneurs revealed just how susceptible entrepreneurs can be to conditions like depression, ADHD, and bipolarity. In comparison to nonentrepreneur study participants, entrepreneurs were:
- Just as likely to report suffering from anxiety
- Twice as likely to report suffering from depression
- Three times more likely to report a history of substance abuse
Behind the razzle-dazzle of “hustling” comes loads of stress and expectations from investors, employees, and the media, the effects of which may not remain contained to just the entrepreneurs themselves. Another startling finding from this study was that the entrepreneurs were twice as likely as the rest of the population to report having close relatives suffering from depression, ADHD, anxiety, or a history of substance abuse.
Even if entrepreneurs are aware of the effects of overwork and stress on their mental health,and the health of those around them, they may not be taking the necessary steps to combat these problems…
