In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month we wanted to help bring attention to mental health as it relates to entrepreneurs. There is no better place to find research and insights on this topic than The Mindset Project by Michael DeVenney.
The culture of entrepreneurship is not effectively supporting entrepreneurs, and it may be damaging their mental health and businesses. Despite the recognition of entrepreneurs as crucial for economic growth, the success rates of new businesses remain low. Efforts to identify specific personality traits linked to entrepreneurial success have yielded inconclusive results. Providing access to capital, mentors, and training programs has not significantly improved success rates. The intense focus on competition and revenue often detracts from the entrepreneur’s original vision. The mental health of entrepreneurs is significantly impacted, with high rates of mental illness and depression compared to the general population.
In his research with The Mindset Project, Michael DeVenney found that 68.3 per cent of entrepreneurs report a mental illness during their working years. The incidence rate of depression for entrepreneurs is 31 per cent as compared to eight per cent for the general population. Entrepreneurs experience declines to their physical and mental health with more than 75 per cent reporting loss of personal relationships and time with family and friends. In addition, entrepreneurs reported higher rates of PTSD when compared to the general population. This is possibly related to the fact that 49% of entrepreneurs have a first-degree family member who has experienced a mental illness. The pressures on entrepreneurs to succeed and meet high expectations while giving their lives to starting up their businesses also resulted in 72 per cent questioning if they are getting what they want from their company. On top of this, Industry Canada found that in the past fifteen years, entrepreneurial businesses have only achieved about 42 per cent of their potential.
To find out more and what we can possibly do about this check out The Mind Project!