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Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

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Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#61

Post by princeverma »

I disagree with OP. Maintaining a job when you have depression is very difficult, but you can work on your startup. Infact, having something to work upon, something that you love, gives a purpose to your life.

And these are not some arbitrary statements, I was suffering from depression & other related issues and focusing on startup really helped me. Before that, I was at bottom point of my life. Working on a idea, idea that i loved, was only one reason because of which i was waking up in the morning.

But, then again, I can see that startup is not a medicine for depression. It may have worked for me but there is no guarantee it will work for other. Even then, we can't say that if you are suffering from depression then startups are not for you.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#62

Post by craigmc »

Depression is not a barrier to doing a startup. Indeed, given that a large number of people (statistics vary widely as to the exact %) suffer from depression at some point in their lives, it is likely that there are far more happy outcomes of depressed people (or people prone to depression) doing startups than there are tragic cases where it has led to suicide.

There is some evidence that depressive spells can lead to more clarity - this is wrapped up in the debate as to why depression exists in the first place. Additionally, the severity of the depression is a major factor - I have seen people entirely incapacitated by it, whereas others are able to effectively manage it using therapy and/or meds.

Also relevant is the nature/cause of the depression - it is possible to suffer from symptoms of depression (i.e. scoring highly on, say, the Beck depression inventory) that are largely situational - i.e. they are brought on by a job you hate, a bad relationship, etc. In these cases, doing a startup might actually be something that enables you to focus your energy and actually reduce or eliminate the symptoms entirely.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#63

Post by jacquesm »

pyalot2 wrote: post #58
jacquesm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a huge difference between a life-style business and a start-up. Though the one could grow into the other the chances of that happening are fairly remote. Most life-style businesses have built in limits to scale, most start-ups consider not scaling up and out a failure of sorts. As soon as compound growth is involved you're out of lifestyle business levels. A typical life-style business is A typical start-up…

That's one of several definitions of a startup, and it's not the only one, or even an accurate one. - There are any number of companies that started without outside investors. - There are any number of startups that take outside investment but never scale. - There are lifestyle businesses that turned out to scale at some point or another. - To interpret compounding only in terms of taking investment and throwing away…

That's the HN general use of the word start-up as per PG's definition. I agree there are others but it helps if we all use the terms the same way.

See here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4556838

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#64

Post by saalweachter »

derefr wrote: post #2

> For some reason start-ups are a magnet for people that suffer from depression. I posit: it's hard to hold a steady job while suffering from untreated depression. (Or ADD. Or social anxiety. Or any number of other things.) Between your (inevitably short) periods of employment, you tinker. Tinkering leads to projects, projects become startups, and--if you're good at what you do--before you know it, you're under a ton…

I posit: everyone is depressed, all the time. Start-ups are not unusual.

In the US, 9% of people report being depressed at least occasionally, and 3.4% are majorly depressed. An estimated 26% suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a calendar year (shout out to anxiety disorders!).

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-coun...

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#65

Post by fmavituna »

jacquesm wrote: post #55
fmavituna wrote: post #50

Ferruh's guide to risk free startup (for depression prone people and the rest) = Prerequisites = * You have proven technical skills * You have minimum amount of social and business skills (if you don't have this, don't do startups anyway) = What not to do = * Do not attempt to start the next Facebook, Twitter etc. Start small. If you like your next company can be the next big thing, for now don't do it. * Do not star…

> risk free startup That's a new one! Nice list, it definitely mitigates some of the risks.

:) I think zero emotional risk is not possible because startups are personal and depending on the person effect can be huge.

However removing the money from the equation will make things much easier for sure. Many people perform bad when they are economically pressured and they don't have a good plan B.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#66

Post by [deleted] »

saalweachter wrote: post #64
derefr wrote: post #2

> For some reason start-ups are a magnet for people that suffer from depression. I posit: it's hard to hold a steady job while suffering from untreated depression. (Or ADD. Or social anxiety. Or any number of other things.) Between your (inevitably short) periods of employment, you tinker. Tinkering leads to projects, projects become startups, and--if you're good at what you do--before you know it, you're under a ton…

I posit: everyone is depressed, all the time. Start-ups are not unusual. In the US, 9% of people report being depressed at least occasionally, and 3.4% are majorly depressed. An estimated 26% suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a calendar year (shout out to anxiety disorders!). http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-coun...

[deleted]

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#67

Post by nraynaud »

jacquesm wrote: post #45
nraynaud wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm extremely worried, I'm locked out of bigco (for the best), I don't want to be locked ou of startup land. The herd mentality is so strong in this part of work world that it might really be quick.

It's not 'either do bigco or do a start-up'. You could probably do great as a consultant or a contractor. That way you still get to write your own ticket and you avoid the (majority of) the stress.

I'm just bad at service, I tried being a contractor and then an independent consultant and it was a disaster.

I work for products, I need a team with the skills I don't have, I need to make mistakes and correct them on the way to a product that sells. I need smart people doing stuff I didn't know where possible that quick, I like to cut the red-tape and corp. foolishness for them, I like to bring candidates in the middle of the team and check if they fit or not, I like to say "sorry" to a customer after someone makes a mistake that wrongs them. I like going on skype a 3AM after a pagerduty alert and seeing we're 2 or 3 on the incident. And I like the fight against clutter and complexity inside growing companies.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#68

Post by Millennium »

craigmc wrote: post #62

Depression is not a barrier to doing a startup. Indeed, given that a large number of people (statistics vary widely as to the exact %) suffer from depression at some point in their lives, it is likely that there are far more happy outcomes of depressed people (or people prone to depression) doing startups than there are tragic cases where it has led to suicide. There is some evidence that depressive spells can lead t…

Depression is largely an episodic thing (dysthymia, though it's sometimes called "chronic depression", is actually a distinct issue). Many people do indeed go through one or more episodes in their lives, and this is not necessarily a problem. But like all mental faculties, it can get out of control, and then the problem becomes serious.

I'd say that going through a depressive episode actually is a barrier to doing a startup. The reason is simple: getting a startup off the ground requires almost all-consuming motivation, but one of the most common symptoms of depression is impaired motivation. In other words, depression hits right at the heart of what makes startups workable, and while this is not necessarily insurmountable, calling it suboptimal is an understatement. The wise thing to do would be to get it back under control, and then start the business when you're in a better state to see it through.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#69

Post by DanielBMarkham »

I note that this title could be written in a different way.

"Suffering from depression? Would you like to be? Try a startup!"

I joke -- a bit.

I've been at this startup thing for a few years, and who knows how much longer I'll be at this until I'm happy with it. Probably never.

The more I do this, the more I begin to think 1) that being somewhat insane can help you in a startup, and 2) the people I really want to listen to and learn from are the guys who tried for 20 years. Somebody like Zuck who hit the lottery really has very little of import to share with me. I'm average Joe Startup Guy. It's a different world for us.

In all honesty, I'm not so sure I would discourage depressed people from startups. Freud thought that depressed people were just smarter than the rest of us -- they realized how truly the world sucks. So in some sense, they may be better equipped for startup life than other folks. Fighting depression is fighting depression. External stimulus has little to do with it. In fact, that's the definition of depression -- an internal state of being where you find most everything hopeless (or pointless). There are a lot of really rich, successful people who are depressed.

Suicidal people? Different thing entirely.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#70

Post by vonmoltke »

lhnz wrote: post #56

I'm not sure I agree. You seem to think that extreme stress from your mentality makes it difficult to deal with extreme stress in your job. For many it is the opposite. If you're riding a rollercoaster then another rollercoaster is not so scary. It will hurt but it is expected. The point when you decide to leave a 'comfortable' existence in BigCorp™ is the point in which you no longer feel comfort there, and at that…

I would like to add that, speaking from personal experience, your mental state really slides downhill when you pass from just being uncomfortable to feeling trapped. You start thinking less of yourself, your interview performance goes down, and every failure to change your situation notches you down and actually makes your situation worse. Sometimes the only way to break that cycle is to say "Fuck it", quit, and do something on your own. At that point, any level of risk looks better than certainty because the certainty sucks so bad. That is the path I would have taken years ago, were I not stuck in Dallas. Would have been preferable to the 2+ years of hell I went through at my "safe" job until I finally found something else.
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