45% of Canadian business owners experience mental health challenges compared to 38% in February 2022, based on 2023 research by the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Mental health difficulties are a fact of life. Regardless of our profession, social status, education level and beyond, none of us are immune to mental health vulnerabilities. Struggling is part of the human condition yet it is still heavily stigmatized, shushed and shunned.
Andy Dunn is a startup veteran and best-selling author whose story of mental illness in business is shockingly vivid and takes that stigma head-on.
In Andy Dunn’s memoir, Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind, he explores the unglamorous yet inspiring relationship between entrepreneurship and mental health.
It is a captivating, honest retelling of his battle with bipolar while co-founding the menswear brand Bonobos.
His account reinforces how critical it is to respect our mental health needs — otherwise, our goals, relationships and success can become seriously compromised.
Here are three key takeaways from Burn Rate:
1. The personal is the professional
Mental health issues and illnesses often reflect a chemical imbalance in the brain and body. You can only “leave your problems at the door” so much and for long when you’re emotionally and mentally dysregulated.
Dunn indulges in how his bipolar fueled a relentlessness and ambition that lends itself well to running a startup. He would experience euphoric highs that offered extreme bouts of energy followed by severe lows. The subsequent depressive episodes were defined by emotional instability, debilitating self-doubt and an inability to maintain solid business relationships.
During manic episodes, he was more productive yet inappropriately aggressive and struggled to make strong decisions.
This is a reminder that our mental health is not something easily ignored. We can set aside for a time but it can and will make an unavoidable appearance in our lives.
On that note, getting help is a sign of strength. Not weakness. Allowing our mental health struggles to consume us and distract us from what is truly important is what weakens us.
Being willing to face ourselves takes the power away from the problems at be and back into our hands.
2. Entrepreneurship can trigger mental illness
Entering the startup ecosystem is exciting and rewarding. Turning your vision into reality takes tremendous courage, confidence and open-heartedness. And of course, it takes risk, which is one of the biggest reasons why people fear entrepreneurship.
Dunn doesn’t sugarcoat how exhausting and intense starting a business is. The sacrifice that comes with it is demanding and can take a toll on our social connections, financial standing and physical health – all of which are intertwined.
The unpredictability and pressure of it all can very easily trigger feelings of anxiety and depression. To a more severe degree, psychological stress can awaken dormant mental illnesses or psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia and bipolar.
Dunn asserts that we must pay attention to the signals our bodies give us that reflect an imbalance.
The basics include: Compromised sleep and insomnia
Chronic daytime fatigue Nighttime restlessness
Poor concentration
Brain fog or racing thoughts Headaches, unexplained muscle pain an Easily agitated and temperamental Paranoia and distrust of other
Excessive hunger or lack of appetite
For more signs of an impending mental health episode and what to do about it, click here.
People with diagnoses and an awareness of their mental health struggles must build in time and space to take care of themselves during their entrepreneurship journey.
This could be as simple as:
- Creating hard boundaries around a healthy sleep schedule
- Consistently taking proper medication dosages
- Exercising at least 30 minutes a day 5 times/week
- Seeing friends and family at least 3 times/week
- Regularly meeting with a psychiatrist/mental health professional
3. Workplace support is vital
Dunn is an advocate for creating greater transparency in the workplace. He asserts that entrepreneurs, leaders and team members should feel safe and comfortable to be honest with others in an organization.
No, Dunn is not saying that we should sacrifice professionalism in addressing our personal concerns.
Transparency in the workplace does not mean starting meetings in tears, indulging family secrets to coworkers or depending on the company to function as a therapy clinic.
One of his biggest regrets is hiding his mental illness from others for so long. Partly because his self-denial and the shame he carried stunted his growth and held him back. But also because, as humans, we are social animals.
We need a sense of community, understanding and belonging to function more optimally.
Dunn proposes that companies need structured support pathways that integrate mental health discourse into company culture.
This includes:
- Establishing a psychologically safe work environment where employees can communicate with HR, executives and leaders confidentially
- Creating company protocols that take signs of mental illness seriously
- Addressing mental health crises with the same care as a medical emergency
- Showing a positive attitude toward employees who seek treatment and/or take time off
- Allowing leaders to share their struggles in an ethical capacity to create stronger team bonds
- Bundling therapy, coaching and psychiatric care into employee benefits
We highly recommend reading Burn Rate for a riveting and valuable account of how mental health plays a key role in the professional world. Ignoring our emotional needs for too long almost always results in a crisis.
Socially and culturally, we are still learning how to embrace this very real and normal aspect of being human without treating it like a dark secret.
If you are currently dealing with mental health challenges, please remember that you matter and a healthier version of you creates a healthier community around you
For more about Andy Dunn’s book, click here.
You can also find more of our recommended reads here.
