72% of entrepreneurs have mental health problems. This is the warning of a study from the University of Berkeley in which it is revealed that entrepreneurs are 2 times more likely to commit suicide.
To this study is added one from the United States published in Hubspot in which it is revealed that the majority of company founders have mental problems. This study shows that 63% of CEOs of companies have burnout syndrome; 59% of them suffered from anxiety, 47% from depression; 24%, attention deficit; 14% abuse substances and 3% are bipolar.
The study also shows that 8 out of 10 company founders say that there is a stigma in society around mental health and 70% of them acknowledge that there are not many help resources on mental issues.
Tips to avoid mental health problems
The CEO and founder of the startup Spotahome, Alejandro Artacho, explains that the entrepreneur “is required to always be strong, serene, with a smile… And available. The opposite shows weakness and that does not match his figure, inside and outside the company. Often, he is presented to her as an invincible hero, a rockstar”. However, as he warns, the reality of the startup is behind the character to which one is a slave, it can be completely different if one is not aware of the havoc that undertaking can wreak on the person, sometimes silently”.
Among the tips that the expert gives to help entrepreneurs improve their mental health, they highlight prioritizing meditation, sports, food and sleep. Likewise, he believes that it is important to reset the value system that one has and prioritize them, redefining what success is for a person. According to him, “it is important to invest in the permanent rather than the temporary, to live more in the present, since the startup world creates anxiety since it lives most of the time in the future and to control your calendar and not the other way around.”
In this sense, he draws attention to the use of technology and considers that social networks should be used less compulsively and be more aware of what is consumed in reading. “To be a good leader, you must first lead yourself…be a conscious leader. Being calm as calm brings clarity and clarity brings confidence,” he adds.