Running a company and the nervous system – why is this combination so demanding?
Running a company involves constant exposure to factors the nervous system interprets as potential threats: uncertainty, financial risk, responsibility for the team, and the need for rapid responses to change. For the brain there is little difference between a “business threat” and other forms of threat – stress mechanisms are activated similarly.
An entrepreneur often operates without a clear boundary between work and private life. Phone, emails, decisions and thoughts about the company can accompany them from morning to late at night. The nervous system is then repeatedly elevated to a higher level of arousal during the day, and time for full “winding down” is limited.
How does an owner’s stress manifest in the body?
Long-term operation in conditions of uncertainty and high responsibility can be associated with a range of somatic symptoms that are sometimes interpreted as “normal” for running a business. These include including:
chronic muscle tension, especially in the neck, shoulders and back,
headaches, a feeling of “heavy head”, migraines,
sleep disturbances (difficulty falling asleep, waking with work thoughts, early awakening),
gastrointestinal complaints, appetite fluctuations, “living on coffee”,
episodes of palpitations, a feeling of “tightness” in the chest.
From a medical perspective these are signals that the organism has been functioning under elevated tension for a long time. In a holistic approach the state of the body is treated as an important part of the overall picture, not merely the “cost of running a business”.
Entrepreneur and the nervous system – what happens in the psyche?
Stress related to running a company can affect mood, emotions and thinking patterns. In some entrepreneurs the following are observed:
difficulty calming work-related thoughts outside working hours,
increasing anxiety about the company’s future, finances, responsibility for the team,
irritability, lower tolerance for others’ mistakes, quicker reactions of impatience,
gradual loss of joy in running a business that previously gave satisfaction,
a sense that “everything rests on me”, which can increase the feeling of burden.
With prolonged persistence of such symptoms the risk of developing occupational burnout, anxiety disorders or depression increases. This description is informational and does not replace individual diagnostics.
Business responsibility and nervous system regulation
Business responsibility – for decisions, people, contracts, investments – affects how the nervous system sets the “vigilance threshold”. The greater the pressure, the easier it is to enter a state in which the organism is almost constantly prepared to react. This can hinder rest, sleep and the ability to “set work aside”.
From the perspective of holistic and integrative psychiatry, regulating the nervous system is one of the important topics discussed in the context of long-term occupational stress. This concerns both biological basics (sleep, circadian rhythm, somatic symptoms) and psychosocial aspects (time boundaries, number of roles, decision-making style).
Which areas are usually analyzed in entrepreneurs regarding mental health?
In descriptions concerning business owners’ mental health the following areas often appear:
work style (number of hours, organization of the day, level of availability),
the way of resting (whether and how often there is real time off from work-related stimuli),
presence and severity of somatic and psychological symptoms,
social support (relationships, possibility to talk about difficulties),
personal beliefs about responsibility, success and failure.
These elements can be discussed during a consultation with a physician, psychotherapist or other specialist – the decision to undertake such a consultation always belongs to the person concerned.
Where is there a place for holistic psychiatry and online forms?
Holistic psychiatry aims to view an entrepreneur’s mental health in a comprehensive way – taking into account both symptoms and context: running a company, duties, habits, lifestyle. Descriptively, one can point out that during a psychiatric consultation (in-person or as a psychiatric consultation online, psychiatric teleconsultation, e-visit with a psychiatrist) one discusses including the impact of chronic stress on wellbeing and functioning.
Holistic psychiatry online (psychiatry online Łódź / for all of Poland, private psychiatrist online) can be presented as one of the available forms of specialist consultation for adults, including entrepreneurs. Communication in this area remains informational and does not contain promises regarding treatment outcomes.
The information in this article is general and educational in nature.
They do not constitute medical advice or an individualized diagnostic or therapeutic recommendation.
Decisions regarding initiation, continuation or change of treatment, including modification of doses of antidepressant medications, should be made only after consultation with a physician, taking into account the patient’s full clinical picture.
Selected sources
McEwen B.S., Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators, The New England Journal of Medicine.
Salvagioni D.A.J. et al., Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: a systematic review of prospective studies, PLOS ONE.
Harms P.D. et al., The occupational stress of leaders: a review and research agenda, The Leadership Quarterly.
Petrie K. et al., Leadership, burnout and mental health: a systematic review of the literature, Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Juster R.P., McEwen B.S., Lupien S.J., Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
