Perhaps having the word ‘founder’ makes it easier for those who have never suffered from depression to get help – maybe just calling it ‘depression’ is a leap too far for many due to the stigma still attached.

Personally if it highlights depression as a problem then I think it’s very positive and if calling it founder depression means people get help then that’s great.

Personally I’ve suffered from depression before I started my businesses and I know the symptoms very well but there is something good to know that other founders may be in a similar situation and you are not alone.

There’s days that I feel I can’t go on, we may have 3 months cash left, traction isn’t there, pressure from investors, still no break even, completely reliant on investor funds… I don’t think I have a specific type of depression but I know the source of it and that’s what drives us all to keep going and get over it or change direction – ultimately you can’t stay like that for the long term as you will lose yourself.

So I think it’s good to highlight it – give it as many names as you want – make people see they have options to get help. It’s not easy been a founder and we need all the help we can get!

P

Thanks for the comment and passing along that article, Jim! Really well written and super insightful.

I’ve suffered from depression long before I started a company. The depression that occurs due to stress is very different than the depression I deal with that occurs because of a chemical imbalance or whatever is causing my brain to misfire. Talking therapy is more helpful for situational depression than meds (they can help but only so much… e.g. laying off people you like is just fucking brutal no matter how many drugs you’re taking). Whereas, the meds are really helpful for chronic depression (along with talk therapy). I’m absolutely not saying one is better/worse than the other… just that they’re different. And you can suffer from both.

Good article overall though. Thanks for talking about it. If you want more insight into chronic depression, here’s a post I wrote about depression and creativity. Not exactly startup related, but since many (or most) founders are also creatives it probably applies.
https://digitalanarchy.com/blog/art-technology/depression-suicide-and-being-a-creative/

Glad you’re feelin right, Florin. And thanks for sharing here!

Namaste all day.

Damn Kevin, dropping some knowledge my friend! I couldn’t agree more 🙂 I feel a lot of stoicism in your voice, which has helped me considerably over the last year.

I may just write a post about the above soon 🙂

Thank you for the thoughtful and vulnerable article. I agree with you, assuming depression is an expectation actually creates the very thing we say we don’t want.

One aspect to the conversation that even fewer founders talk about is the internal narratives that drive them (and other high achievers) to begin with, which set them up for suffering. We’re all told from a young age what we “should” be, how success looks, and what matters–all things related to how we identify in the world and who we think we are.

Most founders I’ve known and worked with are, if they’re honest, driven by deeply embedded mental “algorithms” of insecurity, inadequacy, and fear of not mattering. Everyone is the same, really. We just want to know who we are and be happy, but the inevitable outcome of looking to external people, things, and circumstances to fulfill us never works.

The only way to change the outcome is to shift the inputs/perspectives, which means completely re-defining what “success” even means and discovering who you are outside of those things. Modern culture’s current definition—money, status, things—is in many ways our religion, but it’s one that is ultimately unsatisfying. None of us wants to really believe it because we think we might be the exception to the rule. But if your sense of identity is tied to your money, status, and things, what happens when those things disappear?

That doesn’t make pursuing any of those things wrong. But relying on them for happiness doesn’t work and never has.

Thanks for your honesty and courage to speak your mind. I’m sure there’s someone out there who now feels like they can be open, too, and no longer feels alone.

Same here. Agreed with your thoughts!