016 Startup Founders Mental Health

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On today’s episode, Christopher talks about a relevant TechCrunch article on startup founders mental health written by Jake Chapman. He also shares how he’s able to go through his own mental health concerns.

“Just like we can proactively design our life and our business, we can proactively design our mental health.” – Christopher Lochhead

Entrepreneurs and Founders: Mental Health

In a study by Michael Freeman, it is said that 50% of entrepreneurs are susceptible to a mental health condition. Some specific conditions are prevalent among young startup founders. These include depression, ADHD, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, psychiatric hospitalization, and suicidal thoughts.

Indeed, Aristotle once said that there’s no great genius without a touch of madness. While some of the wacky can help a person be creative, it’s also quite hard to deal with. To address this, there first needs to be mental health awareness within ourselves and also in our entrepreneurial leaders.

“The second thing I tried to do is to create a structure for myself and for my life that acknowledges who I am.” – Christopher Lochhead

Becoming Self-Aware

Christopher has personally gone through a lot of training and therapy to become a self-actualized person. He trained himself to increase his self-awareness. He used his own intelligence to manage his emotions and prevent them from getting the best of him.

“Even if I’m feeling really shitty, at least in some level, I know that this is an overreaction and that this, too, will pass.” – Christopher Lochhead

Getting Help from People

He also surrounds himself with people who know and love him for who he is. When he’s in a dark place, they know how to support him and love him through it. Most importantly, they know when to stop putting up with it and give him a nudge whenever he wallows in his self-pity for too long.

Professional help, of course, is always an option and nothing to be ashamed of.

To hear Christopher Lochhead share more insights into mental health, download and listen to the episode.

Links:

Investors and entrepreneurs need to address the mental health crisis in startups

Entrepreneurs Touched with Fire

Suicide Prevention Lifeline Chat

Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™ on Startup Founders Mental Health! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!