CEO Zach Booker also praises Midwest as haven for startups
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 17, 2023 (Newswire.com) – In two events at the recent SXSW Conference, ADHD Online, the leader in online ADHD testing and assessment, outlined the reasons for its exponential growth and addressed the unspoken prevalence of mental health issues for entrepreneurs.
“ADHD Online is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, far from the entrepreneurial hotbeds of the U.S. coasts. But the Midwest is a powerhouse of talent, with unique opportunities, and ADHD Online leveraged the region’s advantages,” CEO Zach Booker told the crowd at the “Scaling in the Midwest” panel. “That allowed the company to grow to serve patients in all 50 states in just one year,” Booker said.
“Central to that success was the company’s philosophy and structure, which allowed it to ‘plug and play’ a system that delivers and maintains a high standard of care for treating mental health patients in the same way regardless of where they live,” Booker said.
At the “Mental Health and Entrepreneurs” panel, Keith Brophy, ADHD Online’s chief operating officer, outlined the increasing prevalence of mental health issues in the United States and among entrepreneurs in particular. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in five Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year, while one in 25 lives with a serious mental illness.
“Among the factors that can contribute to mental illness are adverse life experiences, substance abuse, trauma, loneliness and isolation – with the latter two being common problems among entrepreneurs as they create and launch their ventures,” Brophy said, citing a number of studies.
Entrepreneur Online reports found that one in four entrepreneurs will experience mental illness of some kind, with anxiety and depression the most common issues. A recent studyfound that 72% of entrepreneurs had mental health problems. And statistics from the National Institute for Mental Health show that entrepreneurs have depression at twice the rate of the general population, six times the rate of ADHD, three times the rate of bipolar disorder, and twice the rate of addiction.
“Our panel really set the stage for entrepreneurs to be open in discussing their mental health and not hiding behind the mystique of entrepreneurs and leaders, where they can’t be authentic about their mental health,” Brophy said.
“The mental health of entrepreneurs is overlooked, or even swept under the rug,” Booker agreed. “There’s an assumption that people have that entrepreneurs must be good at everything since they’re in business for themselves. And the ‘fake it until you make it’ phenomenon means many entrepreneurs can’t be honest about their struggles.”
To learn more about ADHD Online and Mentavi Health, visit https://adhdonline.com/.
About ADHD Online
ADHD Online was founded in 2018 with the mission that everyone should have access to quality ADHD assessments regardless of who and where they are. The ADHD Online team is filled with industry experts across the United States who all share the same passion for ADHD and making sure patients have access to critical mental health services. ADHD Online is leading the way with being a critical voice for those who might be struggling with ADHD and is the only organization to offer HIPAA-secured ADHD assessments online with results from licensed psychologists. ADHD Online is active in all 50 states.
