StartOut Members Share Their Thoughts for Mental Health Awareness Month
by Pete Holmberg
Nobody ever said that being an entrepreneur was going to be easy, but very few among us ever anticipated doing business amidst the challenges of a deadly pandemic. But as we face our fears, and move forward in spite of them, the vital task of self-care can often get lost in the process. With May being designated as Mental Health Awareness Month, we here at StartOut wanted to take the opportunity to check in with some of our members working in the field of wellness during this horrific time. What are they seeing and what can we learn from them as we navigate our eventual return to a reactivated world?
Jeanne Hastings of Sevierville Tennessee has been a recreational therapist for more than 40 years. The founder of MyRecreationTherapist.com, Jeanne is a firm believer in the healing power of recreation and a keen observer of destructive leisure behaviors. “People need to be mindful of the harmful habits they’ve adopted or exacerbated while in lockdown. I’ve noticed an uptick in alcohol consumption, huge increases in unhealthy eating, and of course, the increased time indoors has translated to a decrease of exercise across the board.” With a client base that is mostly homebound, Jeanne is finding inspiration from those who are hardly new to isolation. “My clients are really good at this. While it’s certainly easier to stay positive when you’re happily interacting with the world, I’ve the four pillars of wellness — mental stimulation, physical activity, a sense of purpose, and socialization — being diligently maintained for decades by people whose situations are far more constricting than the current safety measures we have in place. We are the most impatient people in the world and in times of crisis we can all learn from the homebound.”
As the Founder and CEO of Reflect, a mental health platform that matches clients with the right therapist, Jonathan TranPham is seeing an increase in both the need for therapy and a shift in how providers are meeting this demand. Reflect has built the largest non-insurance network of therapists in California and focuses on matching customers based on fit, the best predictor of success in therapy. Technology is helping to provide more avenues for support. In addition to in-person therapy, Reflect recently launched teletherapy to help customers continue to get care during this difficult time. “Teletherapy is certainly a great option and we are lucky to have the technology in place that enables it, it’s not without challenges though. Many people are living in situations where privacy just isn’t available.” But the Pandemic has created opportunities through the loosening of federal laws restricting cross-state care. “Prior to COVID-19, a person in New York couldn’t be seen by a therapist in Los Angeles. That has now changed, and with this change comes huge expansion of therapist options for people everywhere. And this could be especially helpful to members of the LGBTQ community in rural areas. “Mental health is the crisis of our generation. A lot of people don’t even know how bad it is because we are all in survival mode. I want to encourage people to do at least one thing a day to support their mental health and take care of themselves.”
A New York City Social Worker for more than ten years, Aaron Spain-Skinner has always worked in, and for, the LGBTQ community. Today, as the Founder and Director of Clinical Services for NYC Affirmative Psychotherapy, a community-focused, sliding-scale group psychotherapy practice in Midtown Manhattan; he is seeing people grieving for futures lost. “This is a time of mass destabilization where people are metabolizing the fact that much of what they had in the mind, whether it be personal or career plans, simply doesn’t exist anymore.” And while he believes this level of instability isn’t new to the most marginalized people of our community, Aaron is seeing a radical increase in fear among the freelancers and entrepreneurs he works with on embracing entrepreneurial anxiety. “As an entrepreneur, it’s already hard doing something that’s never been done before. We’re all going through tough times and I teach in my practice how to prioritize their mental health. This is the time to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, tend to your feelings, and remind yourself that you’re not a robot, and that rest is integral to success.”
For Luis Cornejo, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Founder of PsychoSocial, a mental health multimedia business created to raise mental health awareness and destigmatize mental illness, this crisis has led him to practice gratitude daily. “Like many people, COVID-19 has created grief, and stress in my life, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t positive factors for me. As an educated professional, I have certain privileges — such as the ability to work from home without much disturbance through telecommunication — that are not afforded to a vast majority. Using this privilege to continue supporting others has been a crucial part of my mission as an individual, but also as the founder of PsychoSocial. On my own homefront, I have focused on setting boundaries and limits within my work and personal life.”
As the Founder of Violet, an NYC-based company connecting the Queer community with Queer Competent Therapists, Gaurang Choksi has been blown away by the compassion and concern therapists are showing for their patients. “Queer therapists are already known for their generosity and this has only increased during this pandemic. We are seeing an even greater offering of sliding scales sessions that many of our therapists offer. If cost has been a barrier previously, this is a good time to take a second look.” With social distancing rules fueling the rise in teletherapy, Violet has evolved its product roadmap to equally support — and make it seamless to combine — in-person and online therapy. “Two out of five queer people will face a mental health disorder in any given year and now that COVID-19 has brought anxiety out of the closet, hopefully, more members of our community will feel less reluctant to get help. Being well and maintaining your mental health is a core component of me being an entrepreneur.”
Even when society isn’t in lockdown, founders tend to battle with higher levels of anxiety and loneliness. As Gaurang so eloquently put it “being an entrepreneur means that you’re obsessed with finding a solution for a problem.” And with COVID-19 creating a slew of new problems every day, that obsessive quest to help can exacerbate mental health issues for even the strongest people. Among all conversations that we had in our quest to commemorate this Mental Health Awareness Month, kindness was clearly the word of the day. Our entrepreneurs are making the effort to be kind to all of those around them, and most definitely themselves. The challenge will be to hold on to that kindness as we enter our new normal.
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About StartOut:
Founded in 2009, StartOut, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is the largest national organization to support LGBTQ entrepreneurs with 17K members nationwide. Its mission is to increase the number, diversity, and impact of LGBTQ entrepreneurs and amplify their stories to drive the economic empowerment of the community. StartOut helps aspiring LGBTQ entrepreneurs start new companies; supports current entrepreneurs as they grow and expand their existing businesses; and engages successful entrepreneurs as role models and mentors, on its online portal, and through targeted events nationwide. For more information, please visit www.startout.org.
