The Chicken & The Egg: Mental Health and Entrepreneurship
Hi Reader,
Thank you for subscribing and engaging with these letters. It was nice to hear from a few of you last week who enjoyed the piece on opportunities and learning a bit more about how I started The AR Initiative. I remember being in a final stage interview with a Big Four consulting firm (before committing to ARI) and being asked why I started out on my own right after my master’s instead of seeking another corporate job. I remember giving an interview-ready answer along the lines of ‘I saw a gap in the market and I attempted to fill it’ when all I really wanted to say was I couldn’t get any of the jobs I wanted and I was naive enough to think that starting my own was the answer. In reality, creating this opportunity has been everything I’ve needed in the past 18 months but a steady paycheck, benefits, and one job rather than 10 might have been nice as well 😁.
This week, I read an article on the link between entrepreneurship and mental health conditions. A study by the Visual Capitalist found that entrepreneurs appear to have higher rates of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome etc, than the general public. Of the sampled group, 29% of entrepreneurs were found to have ADHD, and 30% with depression in comparison to 5% with ADHD and 15% in the general public.
As I read the article, I started thinking about the chicken and the egg problem. Which comes first? Are people with these disorders starting businesses partly due to the effects of the disorders such as hyperfocus, persistence, excessive risk-taking etc? Or are these disorders developed as an effect of the entrepreneurial journey? I think I’ve always had some form of anxiety since I was a child and it definitely influenced my decisions - places I went, relationships I nurtured, schools I attended, and so on. You find that anxiety somehow helps you design your life, almost like a creative director that hired herself. Sometimes, she does a great job by the way. But, mental health conditions (whatever yours may be) always have a way of influencing your decisions. My anxieties also in some way influenced my entrepreneurial journey and I find, are also made worse by the journey. The same anxiety that made me feel a hopelessness about the job search also made me like why can’t I do it myself? Maybe, entrepreneurship is simply a trigger and intensifies the experience of these disorders more than in the general public. Do you experience any mental health disorders and what do you find are some of your triggers?
I was also curious about the link between entrepreneurship and mental health in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Mental health issues are not often discussed openly here, yet they exist, arguably in a large portion of the population. How are our entrepreneurs experiencing anxiety and depression, ADHD, OCD and other disorders? And how are these disorders further aggravated by the Nigerian market, society and norms? In my experience, I’ve had to work harder to maintain my mental health while in Nigeria. Being intentional about creating routines that bring peace, creating safe spaces with people that are always grounding, and staying away (as much as I can) from the hustle of being in Lagos. My work is mostly remote and this significantly improves my experience of running a business in Lagos and limits my triggers, however, there needs to be more open conversations about mental health and the conditions needed to support and empower neurodivergent individuals. I hope to create more open conversations about mental health conditions and destigmatise it.
The link between mental health conditions and entrepreneurship is not entirely negative. In fact, some argue that the presence of some mental health conditions has been a catalyst for some of the more successful entrepreneurs. I think there is a healthy version of some of these challenges where some associated traits are an asset in the entrepreneurial world. Hyperfocus, creative thinking, attention to detail, fear etc are all associated with these disorders but can help create highly impactful businesses. The key is in how you manage these conditions…
Thank you for reading, and I will be back in your inbox next week 😊