The start-up culture has a serious problem

Work better. Innovate faster. Expand quicker.

Become a thought-leader. An expert. An inspirer.

Be better, faster, smarter than your competition and never take your eye of the ball.

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The start-up world is a hugely inspirational, exciting world. It’s also a breeding ground for immense mental health problems. Here’s my take on why…

The tid-bits above are a few examples of external pressures. But the internal pressures are much worse. The people in the start-up world are amazing. They are positive, passionate people, determined to the point of obsession and with a drive so big it sometimes weighs more than logic itself. They will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to do something positive (yes, hello irony, I see you there). They are also endless optimists, capable of smashing through incredible challenges armed with little more than a creative mind and sheer determination.

They sound almost…. Superhuman, right?

Unfortunately not, and thereby lies the problem. We are not superhuman, and there is a huge price to be paid for trying to uphold that image.

Here’s what we love to talk about: our successes, latest deals, partnerships and contracts. A great pitch, an award nomination, a new hire or a round of investment secured. Our month-on-month growth and our global expansion plans.

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Here’s what we don’t talk about: the despair, the sleepless nights, the fear of failure, the imposter syndrome, the feelings of worthlessness, the loss of motivation, the isolated thinking. The distanced friendships, the broken relationships, the financial ordeals, the grief and the certainty that we are the only one going through it.

We also don’t talk about: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and many other mental health problems, and we certainly don’t talk about how reportedly 72% of entrepreneurs are affected by them. If we did, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, or at least we wouldn’t feel so alone.

So, time for my personal confession: I have been dealing with anxiety and panic attacks for a while now. It’s not easy writing it down, and it’s much harder doing so with the intention of posting it publicly, but we’ve got to talk about this stuff. In fact, it’s so important we talk about this stuff.

And why don’t we? Is it because we don’t want to show weakness, lose credibility, or look less competent for it? Is it because we’ve got stakeholders, customers, employees, and the momentum we’ve worked so hard to build-up all counting on us? Or is it because we are navigating a culture of “work better”, “crush competition” and “expand faster”? Yes, yes, and yes.

We need to start by talking about it, and by balancing the reminders to be “better” and “faster” with equally prevalent reminders to look after ourselves. We need to create a start-up culture that doesn’t just support the businesses but supports the individuals behind the businesses. After all, these are the people who want to innovate, who want to create jobs, and who want to contribute to society in a very significant way. If we neglect to support these individuals, and do not encourage them to look after themselves, we are not only neglecting a whole heap of potential but we are doing the economy and the country as a whole a huge dis-service.

So talk about it and encourage others to do the same. When your peers ask “how are you?” don’t just say “I’m great, thanks, how are you?” if that’s not really how you are. Share your struggles just as openly as your successes, and when people ask “how are you?” — say how you’re really feeling. You’ll be surprised by how many people will respond with “me too”.