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50% increase in business owners seeking mental health support: "Running a business nearly cost me my life”

ended 22. September 2025

THERE has been a 50% increase in business owners seeking mental health support with one saying "running a business wrecked my mental health and nearly cost me my life".

It comes after a turbulent period involving Brexit, Covid lockdowns, double-digit inflation, higher interest rates, increased taxation and last week’s flatlining GDP figures — with one business owner saying “running a business wrecked my mental health and nearly cost me my life”.

Soulla Demetriou, a Transformational Coach at Soulshine with Soulla, said the growing strain on business owners is being reflected in a sharp increase in people turning for support.

She said: “We've seen an almost 50% increase in enquiries in 2025. From a nervous-system perspective, the sustained pressure of recent years isn’t just ‘stressful’, it’s dysregulating.

“The brain’s threat circuits stay switched on, flooding the body with adrenaline and cortisol. Over time this can drive anxiety, panic attacks, burnout, sleep problems and other physical symptoms. In today’s world a deadline or sudden cash-flow shock can often be registered as a threat to life itself, when clearly it isn't."

Gary Parsons, Mentor & Creator of Selfish Leadership at Belper-based Gary Parsons UK, said his mental health was hit.

He said: “Running a business wrecked my mental health and nearly cost me my life. Yet we continue to celebrate sacrificing everything for success. In 2017, at the peak of my business success — turning over 7 figures and winning multiple awards — I was diagnosed with severe depression.

"I got caught up in the hustle and lost my identity. I’d forgotten who I was and what was important in life. Now, my greatest strength is self-awareness. I’m unashamedly selfish, not in a negative way, but prioritising my own wellbeing so that I can continue to show up for others. If leaders aren’t selfish, they risk burning out and taking others down with them.”

Kate Allen, Owner at Kingsbridge-based Finest Stays, said she has suffered health concerns while running her business.

She said: "I’m having heart palpitations on a Sunday night thanks to a holiday home owner. The price of autonomy? High cortisol, no off switch, grey hairs and skin more pepperoni than porcelain. 

"I get through it with a Keep Buggering On attitude, and the dream that one day I’ll be sipping a piña colada while Jean-Pierre sails the yacht into shore to collect me."

Omer Mehmet, Managing Director at Welling-based Trinity Finance, said he needed to be “disciplined” to keep his mental health under control.

He added: "Running a business in recent years has felt like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. Brexit, Covid, soaring inflation, and now flatlining growth have tested every owner’s resilience. 

"It has definitely taken a toll on my mental health at times, but I’ve learned that discipline outside the office is just as important as discipline inside it. For me that means regular training — golf, boxing, weightlifting — and carving out time with my family, which keeps me grounded when business pressures spike. 

"The highs of building something lasting do outweigh the lows, but only if you’re strict about protecting your headspace as fiercely as your balance sheet."

Oli Garnett, Co-Founder at Bristol-based Something Familiar, said business is hard.

He continued: “Stress is part of the job. If you want certainty, get a salary. If you want ulcers, start a company. That’s the trade-off nobody tells you when you become your own boss. The past few years have been a masterclass in uncertainty: Brexit, Covid, inflation, interest rates. 

"You don’t escape stress as a business owner, you just choose a different flavour of it. The positives are real: freedom, purpose, building something that matters. But they come with 3am wake-ups, spreadsheets that make you question your life choices, and the constant pressure to sweat the small stuff because the details decide whether you succeed or fail. 

"Owning a business is hard, sometimes brutal, but for those of us wired this way, it’s still worth every sleepless night.”

Mary Maguire, Managing Director at Derby-based Astute Recruitment Ltd, likened owning a business to being on a rollercoaster.

She added: "The world's greatest, scariest rollercoaster would be how I'd describe running a business. From a slow start with a gradual climb in increasing business, turnover and staff, come a few sharp turns to jolt you out of your comfort zone. Global financial crash? Tick. 

"Then you have the fun twists and turns that thrill and delight. Award wins. Record sales and profits. Everything seems amazing. Then the killer jolt, and vertical drop where everything falls off a cliff. Covid. Lockdowns. Tick. No preparation can prepare someone for the emotional highs, lows and everyday twists of running a business. 

“But strong mental health, resilience, having good relationships and friends all help hugely. Business owners need to be able to talk and reach out to one another.”

Dr Anna Sanniti, Nutritional Therapist at Dr. Anna Sanniti, provided some advice for business owners.

She added: "Managing anxiety and stress is important as it’s really hard to switch off from the to-do list as you are essentially managing it all. Making time to step away from work is really important, and I find it especially helpful to go for walks in nature to help calm the nervous system. 

"Keeping on top of things in both personal and work life really helps. For example, batch cooking for healthy meals and journaling what I want to achieve that week keeps things achievable. Letting go of perfectionism has also helped reduce the pressure I have put on myself and get things done. 

“I also try and make time to celebrate small milestones with little things e.g. treat myself to a coffee or go to a yoga class even if I feel I don’t have time. I also try not to work on the weekends although this is not always possible.”

11 responses from the Newspage community

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Omer Mehmet
Managing Director at Trinity Finance
Running a business in recent years has felt like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. Brexit, Covid, soaring inflation, and now flatlining growth have tested every owner’s resilience. It has definitely taken a toll on my mental health at times, but I’ve learned that discipline outside the office is just as important as discipline inside it. For me that means regular training — golf, boxing, weightlifting — and carving out time with my family, which keeps me grounded when business pressures spike. The highs of building something lasting do outweigh the lows, but only if you’re strict about protecting your headspace as fiercely as your balance sheet.
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Oli Garnett
Co-Founder at Something Familiar.
Stress is part of the job. If you want certainty, get a salary. If you want ulcers, start a company. That’s the trade-off nobody tells you when you become your own boss. The past few years have been a masterclass in uncertainty: Brexit, Covid, inflation, interest rates. You don’t escape stress as a business owner, you just choose a different flavour of it. The positives are real: freedom, purpose, building something that matters. But they come with 3am wake-ups, spreadsheets that make you question your life choices, and the constant pressure to sweat the small stuff because the details decide whether you succeed or fail. Owning a business is hard, sometimes brutal, but for those of us wired this way, it’s still worth every sleepless night.
Star Quote
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Soulla Demetriou
Somatic, Intuitive and Transformational Coach at Soulshine with Soulla
We've seen an almost 50% increase in enquiries in 2025. From a nervous-system perspective, the sustained pressure of recent years isn’t just “stressful”, it’s dysregulating. The brain’s threat circuits stay switched on, flooding the body with adrenaline and cortisol. Over time this can drive anxiety, panic attacks, burnout, sleep problems and other physical symptoms. The answer isn’t to work harder or summon more willpower, it’s transforming how we relate to ourselves. Evidence-based psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), views the mind as made up of different “parts,” each with its own feelings and roles. Some adopt protective functions; others hold unresolved past experiences. These parts are not flaws but protective strategies shaped by experience and now over-activated in high-pressure environments. All carry an unconscious drive toward survival. In today’s world a deadline or sudden cash-flow shock can often be registered as a threat to life itself, when clearly it isn't.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
For most of the time, you know what you’re getting yourself into, and you know that you’re going to get thrown unknowns like tax changes, regulation and even Covid. However, by far the hardest thing to get right is personal relationships and the emotional impact on human decisions. Letting people go, even when they’ve not met expectations or done wrong, is an emotionally draining process and the hardest thing I’ve experienced in business. It’s also made our recruitment more robust, so there are positives from the journey.
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Editor
Kate Allen
Owner at Finest Stays
I’m having heart palpitations on a Sunday night thanks to a holiday home owner for whom hospitality is like reading hieroglyphics. The price of autonomy? High cortisol, no off switch, grey hairs and skin more pepperoni than porcelain. I get through it with a Keep Buggering On attitude, and the dream that one day I’ll be sipping a piña colada while Jean-Pierre sails the yacht into shore to collect me.
Copy

Editor
Mary Maguire
Managing Director at Astute Recruitment Ltd
The world's greatest, scariest rollercoaster would be how I'd describe running a business. From a slow start with a gradual climb in increasing business, turnover and staff, come a few sharp turns to jolt you out of your comfort zone. Global financial crash? Tick. Then you have the fun twists and turns that thrill and delight. Award wins. Record sales AND profits. Everything seems amazing. Then the killer jolt, and vertical drop where everything falls off a cliff. Covid. Lockdowns. Tick.
No preparation can prepare someone for the emotional highs, lows and everyday twists of running a business. But. Strong mental health, resilience, having good relationships and friends all help hugely. Above all. Business owners need to be able to talk and reach out to one another. Networking cohorts with Chatham house rules work very well and I speak from personal experience. Problems shared are often problems halved.
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Tracey Cole NLP
Managing the stress of a business is one of the prime reasons many people end self-employment and return to being an employee. It's not for the faint-hearted running your own business and many suffer from that little-know and scarcely-discussed condition of high-functioning anxiety. You'll recognise the signs: this form of form of anxiety is where an individual may appear outwardly successful, organised and in control, but internally, they’re battling constant worry, fear of failure and the pressure to perform perfectly. To overcome this, grounding is paramount: whether that's a walk in nature, meditation or the simple ability to imagine being in that happy place, with the full complement of sights, sounds, smells and feelings to enrich the scene. What's more, doing this for 10 minutes per day can be the ultimate tonic and antidote to the persistent thoughts of worry, fear and high-stress levels or feel on edge. People must get out of the paradox of believing anxiety is a motivator.
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Gary Parsons
Leadership Wellbeing Speaker, Mentor & Facili at Selfish Thinking Co
Running a business wrecked my mental health and nearly cost me my life. Yet we continue to celebrate sacrificing everything for success. In 2017, at the peak of my business success — turning over 7 figures and winning multiple awards — I was diagnosed with severe depression. I got caught up in the hustle and lost my identity. I’d forgotten who I was and what was important in life. Now, my greatest strength is self-awareness. I’m unashamedly selfish, not in a negative way, but prioritising my own wellbeing so that I can continue to show up for others. If leaders aren’t selfish, they risk burning out and taking others down with them.
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Clive Bonny
MD at Strategic Management Partners
I've been running my small enterprise since 1990. My keys to success are: test demand with bait flyfish; network like a mackerel; pivot like a dolphin; be resilient as a whale; seize opportunities like a shark; and fish in a deep and wide lake
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Benjamin Beck
Money Coach at Beck Money Coach
Whether employed or self-employed, you're playing a game of risk, just with different rules. Employment offers structure but little control; redundancy looms large. Running your own business gives you autonomy, but you're still at the mercy of the market, policy shifts and economic chaos. The mental load is real. You’re not just delivering value, you’re juggling admin, marketing and the constant pressure to grow. Switching off is tough. For me, diarising time off, getting outside, and regular exercise are non-negotiables. They help me stay grounded when everything else feels uncertain. The upside? You get to build something that reflects your values. But let’s not pretend it’s all freedom and flexibility. It’s a rollercoaster and resilience is the real key.
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Dr. Anna Sanniti
Nutritional Therapist at Dr. Anna Sanniti
Managing anxiety and stress is important as it’s really hard to switch off from the to-do list as you are essentially managing it all. Making time to step away from work is really important, and I find it especially helpful to go for walks in nature to help calm the nervous system. Keeping on top of things in both personal and work life really helps. For example, batch cooking for healthy meals and journaling what I want to achieve that week keeps things achievable. Letting go of perfectionism has also helped reduce the pressure I have put on myself and get things done. I also try and make time to celebrate small milestones with little things e.g. treat myself to a coffee or go to a yoga class even if I feel I don’t have time. I also try not to work on the weekends although this is not always possible.