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Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

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Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#61

Post by RHSman2 »

I not sure PTSD but burning out mentally and physically is gonna cost you time in this life and not fun time. However, while it’s incredibly lonely in that room, like everything hard, there is so much to learn. Just know that it’s very difficult to get a handle on it till life moves on and you can see it with cleaner eyes. There is a reason why old, wise dudes/dudettes are relaxed, humble and kind. They’ve had their asses handed too them and got through it without turning bitter.

Counsel. Properly.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#62

Post by eurasiantiger »

jonathanleane wrote: post #45

Absolutely. I've gone through periods where simply opening my laptop would almost invariably result in what I can only describe as a low-grade panic attack. If that's not PTSD, I don't know what is. I've been taking a break for most of the last 6 months, and am only just starting to get back to 'normal'. I'm not at all convinced that I'll ever fully get back to where I was pre-burnout, but at least I can check my ema…

That sounds like an acute stress reaction brought about by chronic stress. The diagnostic criteria of PTSD include a latency of several months or years from the traumatic event(s) and the first appearance of symptoms.

The symptoms of PTSD generally include hypervigilance (checking your six all the time), restlessness, sense of impending doom, rumination (fixation of thoughts on the traumatic events and retributive fantasies), nightmares, feeling more tired after sleeping than before, loss of appetite despite being hungry, lack of concentration, anxiety and depression.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#63

Post by hntrader »

staticman2 wrote: post #47
itisit wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words ≠ reality...you don't say?

Laypeople word policing psychological terms on the internet is a weird rabbit hole if you buy the criticism the terms are arbitrary to begin with and don't really refer to reality.

> don't really refer to reality

The terms refer to an abstracted and coarse version of reality. They don't have zero utility, even if the criticisms are fitting.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#64

Post by mancerayder »

comfrey wrote: post #16

Life is trauma. The more we take on the more punches we take. Let us not let our ambitions be weapons against ourselves. Leadership takes wisdom based on experience and learning. The adrenals are the alarm, and the thyroid is the gas pedal. Trauma can offset both. But yes, life and work is tough unless we have balance and willingness to grow from pain. Keep breathing deep and take ashwagandha. These times are more ro…

> ashwagandha

Can you elaborate?

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#65

Post by hntrader »

mancerayder wrote: post #64
comfrey wrote: post #16

Life is trauma. The more we take on the more punches we take. Let us not let our ambitions be weapons against ourselves. Leadership takes wisdom based on experience and learning. The adrenals are the alarm, and the thyroid is the gas pedal. Trauma can offset both. But yes, life and work is tough unless we have balance and willingness to grow from pain. Keep breathing deep and take ashwagandha. These times are more ro…

> ashwagandha Can you elaborate?

It's an over the counter supplement that's purportedly anti-anxiety and sleep-promoting.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#67

Post by throwaway94839 »

nbadg wrote: post #31

That depends if you mean PTSD in a clinical sense, or PTSD in the pop-culture-phrase sense. And also, you're asking a yes/no question, but it's probably better to ask "how likely is it". There are a lot of humans in existence, so a whole lot of really unlikely things are technically possible just by the laws of big numbers. In the pop culture sense, PTSD is basically just residual stress/anxiety from some negative ev…

> conflating the two feels deeply disrespectful to all of us.

During my startup time, my co-founder joined me and a colleague at an event after he came back from the airport and might have even drunk something at the event. The way back while he was driving he was fairly upset (like he was all the time during work) We had a car crash, I was hospitalized for 2 or 3 days.

That said, to quote an actual psychologist, trauma is when there is something you cannot talk about.

Anyways, I'm not a Psychologist.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#68

Post by ShakataGaNai »

Technical definition of PTSD? No idea, I'm not a shrink

What the common man things of PTSD? Most certainly yes.

A startup world isn't a literal warzone. The experiences of a startup can be extremely negative, but aren't anything near as bad as what a soldier sees - so lets not get these things confused.

But anyone can experience trauma from anything. Be it a loss of someone you care about... or a horrifically bad boss. Extreme stress be it in a warzone or in a startup is still stress. It's hard on the body and can cause a lot of negative reactions in the short or long term.

My experience was mild in comparison. Got a new boss at a high stress, high growth, no-life startup job (the kind where you boast that you work 80 hours a week, 6.5 days a week minimum). He was terrible, I started to look for a new job but it was slim pickings at the time. Eventually I did get an out but for the first two weeks after I left, I had nightmares every single night about that boss. Continued to happen less regularly for quite some time after that.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#69

Post by eurasiantiger »

elliottkember wrote: post #17
sneak wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They can cause something like PTSD. I believe that OP was asking about actual PTSD, which is thing with a specific definition and diagnostic criteria.

Stress caused by trauma is by definition post-traumatic stress. It is commonly associated with war, car crashes or other violence but bear in mind that trauma is fairly subjective.

Not so. Traumatic events can cause an acute stress disorder that begins immediately after the event, while post-traumatic stress disorder by definition has a latency of at least six months.

Re: Ask HN: Is startup PTSD real and possible?

#70

Post by nullserver »

ShakataGaNai wrote: post #68

Technical definition of PTSD? No idea, I'm not a shrink What the common man things of PTSD? Most certainly yes. A startup world isn't a literal warzone. The experiences of a startup can be extremely negative, but aren't anything near as bad as what a soldier sees - so lets not get these things confused. But anyone can experience trauma from anything. Be it a loss of someone you care about... or a horrifically bad bos…

Have diagnosed PTSD from actual physically and emotional abuse trauma.

Startup / any company stress can any easily rival anything, if you let it.

A project needs 2 years and a team of 10, but your told to get done in a week solo while being pulled off task constantly.

Yea that can break you bad. It’s basically a prison of the mind, you can walk away at any point but you have convinced yourself you can’t.

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