The Epidemic of Depressed Startup Founders
And What Stakeholders Should Know
How many Startup Founders have experienced depression?
I would say it’s a pretty high percentage, if not all. I think the reason is because you get to a point where you are working on your own and you are working a lot of hours and you don’t have much time to spend with your friends and family.
I think that depression is something that comes as a result of being in the business world for extended periods of time.
It’s an occupational hazard.
When you get to a certain point, you just have to turn off your mind and go on vacation or something like that.
I think there should be some sort of mental health support services provided to Startup Founders by the government, because we do create jobs, we do bring in money to the economy.
There should at least be some sort of mental health benefit for us because there are going to be cases where people might need some help dealing with their stress levels after doing this for so long.
Why is depression not talked about in the Startup ecosystem?
It’s a taboo subject.
Most of the people who work in startups are really young and they don’t know how to deal with this.
I think it’s just because they are trying to be macho about it and not even talk about it at all. It is an issue that needs to be addressed somehow.
It’s a growth industry, but there isn’t enough support out there for people who have these issues.
What advice would you give to someone who is struggling with depression?
The first thing I would tell them is that they should not be afraid to talk about it. If you feel like you are depressed, talk to your family or someone else about it.
Don’t try and put on an act like everything is fine.
That doesn’t help anybody because they are going to notice that something is wrong. I think the first thing you should do is just talk to someone about it and get it out there.
If you are in that kind of situation, don’t be afraid to talk to your family members or friends about it and they might be able to help you out as well.
I really think getting this issue out in the open and talking about it can help solve a lot of problems.
On Cudy Counselling, we help students and adults going through a difficult period of their lives by connecting them with online counsellors and psychologists on our platform.
About the Author
I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students teach and learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.
You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.
