Most business owners face a multitude of demands and have numerous responsibilities, which can have an adverse impact on their mental health. This can be a significant downside to being a business owner. However, by being aware of the causes, symptoms, and solutions, an owner can be in a better position to run their business while maintaining their health.

The Causes

Unfortunately, the hands-on nature of running a small business means there can be numerous causes of stress and mental anguish for a business owner. Among the most common causes is spending the majority of the day working to meet the demands of the business, including activities such as replying to emails and social media messages at home.

• Other potential causes of mental health issues for small business owners include:
  Business issues relating to finance and cash flow.
• The business not progressing or growing as the business owner may have expected.
• Feelings of isolation that may come from having a support base of people with experience running a business.

The Warning Signs

Like the causes mentioned above, there can be various symptoms that are associated with stress and other related mental health issues. For a business owner, constantly thinking about work – even when they are not working – is perhaps the clearest sign that work is getting them down.

There are also physical warning signs that may be a cause of mental health issues, which include:

• Major changes in sleep, which is likely to involve sleeping less or, in the most extreme cases, not sleeping at all.
• Constantly having negative feelings, including sadness, anger, grumpiness and the like.
• Changes in eating and drinking habits, including a consistent loss of appetite or an increase in binge eating and drinking.

The Ways to Manage

With the immense number of duties and demands, a business owner may often feel like there are no solutions to their mental health issues. This is certainly not the case, as there are many steps people can take to address their work-related health issues.

The most important measure a business owner can take to manage their mental health includes taking time out of their day purely for their benefit. This could be something as regimented as going to a class of some sort or as informal as lying on the couch and watching a movie.

Other ways to manage mental health issues include adopting regular breathing and relaxation techniques, strengthening and building relationships, and delegating work tasks wherever possible.