Are Entrepreneurs Touched With Fire Stigma Podcast - Mental Health

Dr. Michael Freeman is a practicing psychiatrist and psychologist in San Francisco.  He has performed intensive research on the topic of entrepreneur mental health.  His work has been published in numerous journals, books and publications. 
Most notably, he co-authored a report called “Are Entrepreneurs Touched with Fire” in 2015 – which is a study that shows the link between entrepreneurs and mental illness.  This study has been cited numerous times and most recently in Forbes, as well as the July 2019 Wall Street Journal article, “Beyond the Confetti: The Dark Side of Startup Success.”
The best place to learn more about Dr. Freeman’s work, and to find the report on entrepreneur mental health, is on his website: michaelafreemanmd.com
Research Report Link: Are Entrepreneurs Touched with Fire?
Some of the key takeaways from my conversation with Dr. Freeman:
Entrepreneurs are more likely to have mental health issues than the broader population.  And these issues are rather easy to identify.  Dr. Freeman has embarked upon a research program for the last 8 years that has identified a specific mental health profile or footprint for entrepreneurs that shares many of the same characteristics we see when mental illness manifests itself (creativity, motivation, energy levels, extroversion, etc.).

We talked extensively about the relationship between bipolar disorder and entrepreneurship.  We talked about the spectrum of bipolar and how some characteristics of bipolar present themselves in people.  Some of the characteristics of bipolar like ambition, creativity and optimism, etc. can be very beneficial for a founder, but a full blow manic episode can ruin their life and their business.  Finding that middle ground, by treatment and asking for help is our goal.

Why is entrepreneur mental health a major issue?  Entrepreneurs create the vast majority of new jobs, pull economies out of recessions, introduce useful products and services, and create prosperity. Therefore, it behooves us to understand the cognitive, affective, and behavioral strengths and vulnerabilities of entrepreneurs and encourage them to get help and provide resources for help as well. Jobs are under attack from many outside pressures such as automation.  People who have a job that can be automated, will lose those jobs due to automation, robotics, tele-migration and AI.  Entrepreneurs create jobs.  10% of jobs are held by entrepreneurs themselves, and when you add in their employees, 30% of all jobs are created by entrepreneurs. 
Right around the corner is this tsunami of unemployment and entrepreneurs will be the solution.
We talked about how those of us with mental illness can protect ourselves against the extremes.  Dr. Freeman encourages everyone to be evaluated.  You may or may not have a condition just because you demonstrate symptoms.  If you do have a condition, there’s a reasonable likelihood that you have more than one condition.  Start with an evaluation.  Find out how your mind is calibrated.  Then you will find many ways to “put up guard rails (managing lifestyle, medication, etc.)” so you don’t run yourself off the tracks.

De-stigmatization – We need to normalize the mental health differences of entrepreneurs so that people are not afraid of it.  Start by de-stigmatizing yourself.  Ignore the negative messages you have been receiving.  Education – Society invents false explanations as to why someone is hyperactive or has another mental condition and we need to learn the real explanations. 

How do we address entrepreneur mental health? Dr. Freeman discusses the concept of “Illness” versus “difference” when talking about mental illness.  He says that the concept of “illness” really benefits the “medical industrial complex” more than anyone else.  For example, if you are a doctor who wants to have a full waiting room, or a hospital focused on occupancy or a pharmaceut