At Techstars, we talk about the mantra ‘founder first’, but being advocates of founders means we can’t only focus on the health of their companies – we must also focus on providing mental health resources for the founders.
Techstars is making an effort to end the stigma that surrounds mental health. Let’s open up the conversation around it and what it means to our community and industry.
We encourage everyone to become educated on mental health and important issues around it. We put together a list of resources for anyone who thinks they may be suffering from mental health issues, or anyone who wants to learn more about the topic.
We’ve also compiled information on this topic from other founders and mentors on the Techstars blog.
You can’t #givefirst if you don’t put your own health first.
Do you have resources to add that can help others? Let us know here.
Mental Health America: Download this free Mental Health Toolkit and check out these mental health screening tools
AA: International fellowship of people who have had a drinking problem
Al-Anon: Network providing resources, strength and hope for families & friends of problem drinkers
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Locates mental health resources by city
NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Ginger.io: A mobile platform with 24/7 care for stress, anxiety, and depression
Mental Health Works: Free monthly publication focused on mental health in the workspace. Includes ideas + tools to successfully implement mental health strategies
Failcon: Conference for startup founders to learn from and prepare for failure, so they can iterate and grow fast
TED Talks: Common TED Talks that focus on the topic of mental health
Fully Rich Life: A free toolkit for 21 ways to reduce stress and anxiety
Founder Stories: Suicide, Entrepreneurship and the Road Home
Female Founders: My startup failed and this is what it feels like
Fortune: Depression and Startups: The Emotional Toil of Entrepreneurship
Wired: One startup’s struggle to survive Silicon Valley’s Gold Rush
Paralign: Making mental well-being data driven, intelligent and personalized
Workit Health: An online addiction care program
