I’m stepping down as CEO due to my mental health—and I want to talk about it

I recently chose to step down as CEO of the technology company I co-founded seven years ago. It wasn’t an easy decision; ongoing struggles with mental illness and a desire to prioritize my mental health were the primary drivers of this choice. As you might imagine, there are plenty of reasons why it is easier not to write publicly about this. But those reasons are also why it’s so important that I do talk about it.

In the spirit of transparency and destigmatization, I share that I continue to live with a group of mental health challenges that includes severe anxiety, suicidal ideation, panic attacks, and depression. For me the degree of these symptoms can vary significantly over the course of time. I am grateful to have had access to continuous and multi-faceted treatment for these conditions over the last few years. However, despite this support, over the course of 2020 I experienced a material degradation of my overall mental health, which resulted in a period of hospitalization in August. I was concerned that I might harm myself, and I sought help at the emergency room nearest to me which led to in-patient care.

I’ve balanced mental illness and an intense career for almost 20 years. I am grateful that this career has been filled with its share of adventures and rewards of all types. August was not my first time pursuing residential treatment for mental illness, but it was the scariest and most sudden. Part of me wants to jump back into the hard and important work my startup, EarnUp, does. However, staying alive and making my health a priority demands a different focus for me at this point.

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