Selling a business can be a “psychological trauma” akin to losing a loved one, says J. Michael Haynie, Ph.D., vice chancellor for innovation at Syracuse University, and an expert on entrepreneurship. “For entrepreneurs, their very identity, their sense of self, becomes defined by their venture. They say, ‘My business is my baby.'”

The emotional fallout of selling a business often has a lot in common with postpartum depression, says Michael A. Freeman, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and executive coach who specializes in helping entrepreneurs.

“Purposeful planning related to ‘what’s next’ for the entrepreneur goes a long way toward undercutting the stress and anxiety sometimes associated with venture exit,” Haynie says.

Read all the insightful tips about properly selling your business so you don’t feel the blowback from.