The applause at the conference was enthusiastic, and the ambiance, reflective. Hands shot up in the air with question after question:

“Can you say more about how it felt when you were depressed?”

“What can we do if our CEO is not supportive of employee well-being?”

“My friend has bipolar, how can I support him?”

I (Enoch) gladly and patiently answered them. On the outside, I looked poised, having just shared my lived experience from depression and suicide attempts to founding my social impact consulting company, Bearapy, to improve workplace mental health in the Asia-Pacific region. Inside, I could feel myself disintegrating. I knew my energy was depleting, and I had been met with rejection after rejection from potential clients because they did not have the “budget” for mental well-being initiatives. I was full of doubt, and wondered if leaving my career as a corporate banker to become a social entrepreneur was a wise choice.

Many social change makers choose to dedicate our careers to the sector despite the hardships, driven by a sense of purpose. But the hardships are not any less real. Under the immense pressure to build a sustainable venture and make a meaningful impact, we risk forgetting ourselves. This work takes a toll on our mental health.

As with Enoch, I (Daisy) have seen social change leaders, including myself, suffer under the weight of immense burdens: the struggle for sufficient resources, the injustices we tackle, the suffering we witness, the desire to be seen and accompanied, the demand to constantly prove ourselves worthy of the work. I have had countless conversations with Brio’s partner teams about the ways we dwell on the past or worry about the future—all while struggling to be fully engaged in the work at present. Added to this is the context of all the systemic barriers and cultural norms that go to the very core of the social change we are trying to effect.

We need new structures and narratives in social change. We also need new emotional responses to the undeniably difficult endeavors we face. In other words, in order to catalyze change, we’ll also have to change ourselves.

Read the full article about mental health in the social sector by Enoch Li and Daisy Rosales at Stanford Social Innovation Review.