Mental Wellness and Entrepreneurs
/For those who may not have heard, I co-launched a podcast last week! The Social Change Leaders Podcast is live and available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify and most places you listen to podcasts.
This week we interview Carl Young, MS. Carl is co-founder of Increasing Life Chances 4 You (ILC4Y). Carl is dedicated to addressing issues of diversity and equity in the mental health system and advocates for individuals who may need culturally competent life coaching and mental health support. His passion is to improve individuals’ success professionally, personally, in school and at home; thereby increasing their life chances.
I love this conversation with Carl because he is working on a socially innovative way to address health disparities (crucial work) and because overall he wants people to be better informed about mental health so that they can increase their mental wellness and prevent crisis. You can learn more about this episode here.
Recently, I have been reading about the higher rates of mental illness among entrepreneurs compared to other types of jobs. Half of entrepreneurs suffer from at least one diagnosable illness (World Economy Forum, 2019) however this is believed to be a conservative estimate. Much of this work has been done by Dr. Michael Freeman. He further reports that entrepreneurs are more likely to report a lifetime of depression, attention hyperactivity deficit disorder, bipolar spectrum disorder and substance abuse.
Mental wellness as defined by the World Health Organization is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community."
So, how can you focus on improving mental wellness?
Move your body. This does NOT mean you need to do a Cross-fit workout everyday at 5AM for 75-minutes. Instead, go for a walk, use the stairs, do 5 minutes of stretching before bed. Building in activity for your body each day is key. To be honest, this is one of the things I love about my FitBit.....it reminds me to do some of this!
Talk to people: Talking to people gets you outside of yourself. You can gain perspective. It is easy to catastrophize things in our own mind but when you talk to someone you can better see things from a more sensible viewpoint. And you learn it is not as bad as you think. Do this before you sit for hours or days thinking the worst.
Do something for others. Helping a friend or family member, or doing community work helps you to take the focus away from yourself. In turn, you will feel more positive and less helpless. Try doing this on a small but consistent basis. Even things such as sending a "thinking of you" email to a friend, recommending someone you have worked with in a public space (i.e. LinkedIn) or leaving a podcast rating for someone :) ...... can be a boost for the receiver and for you!
Laugh! It is truly the best medicine. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. What makes you laugh? Do more of it. Who makes you laugh? Hang out with them.
What are some of the ways that you promote your own mental wellness?