Mental Illness May Plague Entrepreneurs More Than Other People. Here's Why (and How to Get Help).One entrepreneur walks us through her struggle with the anxiety and depression that affects so many.

In seven years of running a startup, I experienced just about every emotionentrepreneurshiphas to offer: the adrenaline of launch; the calmenergyof focused flow; the brittle, jittery high of riding a 2 a.m. work jag; the terror of feeling the mask slip, of telling an upbeat story to customers as panic churns in your guts; the grief offailure-- and therelief失败的;幽灵般的lost-limb感觉那t asks,Who am I if I'm not running this business?

Related:4 Things My Battle With Depression Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

However, my mental health résumé is a lot longer than my entrepreneurial one. I've been dancing a medicated tango with depression and anxiety since childhood. I've racked up just enough time in theotherwing of the hospital to be a bad life insurance prospect. I don't have a formal ADHD diagnosis, but I suspect a clinical psychiatrist would take one look at my school records -- a tale of epic disorganization stuffed under a mattress of high achievement -- and call it like it is.