{Geek}
Mental Help Week
Starting on October 27th 2014, Geek mental help week is a week-long series of articles, blog posts, conversations, podcasts and events across the web about mental health issues, how to help people who suffer, and those who care for us.
Follow @geekmentalhelp and share #geekmentalhelp. Make a submission for this site on Github.
Articles and blog entries
To add a link to an article or blog entry, follow the README guidelines and submit a pull request.
Help
In the third (and last) of the series, I talk about the last year and a half and how I went from almost having a breakdown to feeling better than I have done in years.
Bouncing Back
It is Geek Mental Help Week and I have played with the idea of posting something personal, this doesn’t come easy for me but if it helps just one person then it will be a worthy endeavour.
Anxiety
Mental health affects one in four adults. It is time were more open about the conditions and started a continuing discussion to raise awareness that people aren't on their own.
On being a (geek) therapist
At first glance, the worlds of software development and therapy might seem far apart. Therapist and software developer David Noor sees it a little differently.
On being a loony
How I cope when the Depression Fairy pays an unexpected visit.
Ed Finkler on anxiety and attention disorders
As web developers, we need to change the culture of our workplace, says web developer Ed Finkler.
Chris Murphy on web design and mental health (interview)
“I've learned a great deal. Mostly, about rediscovering the need for a more considered balance between work and life.”
5 ways to keep your creative tap turned on
Follow these tips from design director Hannah Donovan to recognise what triggers burnout and develop strategies to keep yourself evolving.
The moment I had to choose
The time I was pushing myself so hard to be a great designer and jiu-jitsu fighter, and then realized I had to choose one of them for a living.
Benjamin Howarth on bipolar disorder
Web developer Benjamin Howarth explains what it is, how it feels, and how to cope with it.
You're Not Alone
Kind of a brain dump of my experiences with depression and other stuff...
Ways To Keep Going (When You're Going Through Hell)
When stress or depression start getting to us, it can be hard to do even the everyday necessities. These are a few ways to help make it through each day and maybe get some stuff done in the process.
Maximize Your Creative Energy
What does knowledge of the brain and personality have to do with creative work? As a lifelong brain geek, I have taken on the mission to help others tap the secrets of the brain to uncover personal potential.
A Common Misconception
Like most teenagers, growing up was difficult, but compounded with mental illness, I fell victim to a vicious cycle of nerves for years. Mental illness was never discussed at school and so I suffered in silence, thinking I was somewhat abnormal. Thankfully, it was my mother that diagnosed me, and I felt such relief that I could finally vocalise what I'd kept hidden for years.
What Is Normal Anyway?
How can you ever escape depression with the suppression of who you are? How can you ever be happy with yourself if you are pretending to be somebody else?
Let's talk about it
Talking about mental health can be awkward and embarrassing, but it really shouldn’t be.
Coping with depression
Slides and notes from my talk at MK Geek Night.
Support and #geekmentalhelp
We need to better understand those around us, and support them as much as we can.
Anxiety & Imposter Syndrome
Suffering from anxiety and imposter syndrome is something that has affected me for years.
Social Pain
Early experiences of isolation made me insecure and prone to depression (I believe). This still affects me today sometimes, but I can live with it well, and it helps me understand others.
How Ideas Commit Suicide
This is how my ideas usually kill themselves and I end up feeling useless. This is what I usually keep to myself.
An Ode To Depression
From the outside all looks well…
This is !normal
It took over a year and a lot of help from some close friends to realise that my job was making me unhappy. I tried so hard to deny myself this fact that I completely failed to see how it was affecting my life outside of work. It wasn’t until mid this year that my friends where able to help me see that I was unwell and needed to make a change.
Manic depression
In the second of a series I'm planning to write this week, I talk about how manic depression feels to me if I leave it unchecked.
The Couch Cone of Silence
In our industry in particular, part of our very job is to consider people, their lives, their needs, and how to optimize everything around personal experiences so that no one is left feeling excluded or forgotten. Accessibility and inclusion stand for more than what we craft on a bright screen someplace.
So glad I am a counselor and a geek.
I read over the lines on the screen. Then a bad feeling comes over me. I reach for the keyboard: “Are you cutting yourself right now?”
You Can Win!
“I am very, very, lucky to be alive and I appreciate that fact every day.”
Design What You Don't Know
The only shapes I find here are well worn and boring, dints still obvious even with fresh paint. Oh so boring. So boring and so often used because they’re just “fine.” Too easily used. Too easily reached for and offered up as if they were new again.
You are not a machine. You are not alone.
“Me, a grown man. A respected figure in my field. A success. Standing on the doorstep of my parents’ house, crying to my mum like a small child. This was the breaking point for me, the minute I finally realized I had depression.”
Brain Dump of Depression
“Depression still seems like such a dirty word, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I suffer with it, and have done for years. Sometimes it’s crippling anxiety, the lowest of low moods, the angriest of rages, or like now, when I’m correctly medicated, it’s just a niggling demon in the back of my mind.”
We need to talk about developers and depression
Greg Baugues shares his struggle with depression and how he discovered he wasn't alone in the dev community.
On Being Open
On being open about mental health issues, and stigma.
I don't want to talk about it
In the first of a series I'm planning to write this week, I talk about how I find it hard to discuss my bipolar condition.
A Double Edged Sword
This article has been submitted anonymously. Not everyone is ready to come out as a sufferer of mental health problems, but they are still out there; members of our community.
Why I am scared
I'm scared. Not as often any more but that used to be different. Until not long ago I was basically was scared all the time. Scared to be among other people, even if they were close friends. Scared to go to work, to step on to a bus or train. Scared to leave my apartment. Scared to hurt people that were close to me or to lose them. Scared of what this fear would do to me.
Time
Time is a funny thing, we embody it on our phones, our wrists, on our walls in every facet of our daily lives. It controls us whether we like it or not.
Depression
“I wrote this immediately after suffering one in a series of minor bouts of depression in 2012. Now seems a good time to publish it.”
Moving Through Life
This isn't what its like to have an acute mental illness, this is what its like for me to have a mental illness. I hope to offer an insight into and show the reality of having an acute mental illness.
Should I Get Checked
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease when I was 19. That was 10+ years ago and I still wrestle with something daily.
Baby Steps
“Some of the recent events in my life made me slow down a bit and gave me the opportunity to look around and become more aware of my surroundings and the people I care about. You may want to do the same, if you have a moment—you may be surprised about what you find out. It seems like so many of us have become so good at hiding or covering up what’s been truly happening behind the closed curtains, just like Chloe or even Robin Williams.”
Employment, Bipolar and the Hell I suffered.
“Since the age of 7, I have had to deal with mental health issues in one way or another. My mother was a manic depressive in and out of asylums, my brother is a schizophrenic. I also had to deal with the fact my father was a paedophile.”
Self Harm: More than just attention
“My story, thoughts and feelings on self-harm and its stigma.”
Why the legendary programmer status will defeat you
We all try to be great, the best there ever was. But chasing the legendary programmer status is a journey that can take it's toll. Learning to accept your weaknesses and failures by embracing the challenges they present; that's the only journey you should ever take.
Boom - Depression and being visible
“Sickness, depression or insecurity need to be hidden to not endanger your employment. This is wrong and it has to stop. This is why I open up and talk about my depression and I hope to encourage people. Maybe I’m being naive, but I hope this post makes a teeny-tiny change for the better.”
Mental Health in an Online Industry
My personal story about fighting with anxiety, and the way it's affected my freelancing, relationships and health. A (sometimes) success story about conquering and pushing past perceived limits.
Announcing Geek Mental Help Week
“After talking with Laura on Unfinished Business this week, about burgers in donuts, we moved on to discuss the Geek Mental Help Week that I’ve been thinking about and planning for the last few months. Something that I sincerely hope will help those of us who suffer from mental health issues and the others who support us.”
Mind
“This is my (unfiltered) story about my experiences with depression. I want people to be more open about mental illness.”
Podcasts & Audio
To add a link to a podcast episode or other recording, follow the README guidelines and submit a pull request.
Unfinished Business episode 93: ‘Live from The Web Is… as part of Geek Mental Help’
The week’s Unfinished Business was recorded live at The Web Is… conference in Cardiff, as part of Geek Mental Help week.
Boagworld season 10 episode 15: 10 ways you can establish a healthy work/life balance
This week on the Boagworld Show we look at the stresses of being a digital professional and ask how we can improve things.
The Shakes, Episode 62: Shazbot, Robin
After Robin Williams' death, we felt it was important to discuss depression and how it affects creative minds.
In this episode: We discuss Robin Williams, our individual depressions, the reality of depression, what one can do to help themselves or others and the fact that we are not professionals or doctors so take our advice with a grain of salt.
Invisible Challenges
A brutally honest and open talk about Invisible Challenges.
The Web Ahead episode 88: Staying Sane with Peter Ferko and Jen Simmons
For Geek Mental Health Week, Jen Simmons invited Peter Ferko to be on The Web Ahead to talk about how to be a human. It can be hard. So what are ways to make things less painful, even in the midst of painful circumstances?
Unfinished Business episode 92: ‘You can blow off a kebab’ with Liz Elcoate
This week is Geek Mental Help week and on Unfinished Business Andrew Clarke is joined by Liz Elcoate, one of the people who helped to spark the idea. They ask if our industry attracts people with issues or cause them, does our working environment add to our problems and what we hope the outcomes from this week will be?
Unfinished Business episode 89: ‘Burger in a donut’ with Laura Kalbag
This week’s an emotional episode of Unfinished Business. After talking about why a burger in a donut should never, ever have become a thing, Laura Kalbag and I discuss mental health issues in our industry. We talk about my own struggles with depression and depersonalisation disorder, issues that stem from my father’s own mental health issues and suicide.
Relative Paths episode 8: ‘Geek mental help week | Don't push over a cow!’
This week Ben and I record a special episode for Geek Mental Help Week. We talk a bit about its origins and what's happening throughout the week, but we mostly talk about our own experiences with depression and how we handled it. We also suggest some ways you can help yourself if you're suffering from depression and how you can help a sufferer. We're not medical professionals, but we hope that our experiences might be useful.
The Mental Illness Happy Hour
Weekly online podcast interviews with comedians, artists, friends, and the occasional doctor. All exploring mental illness, trauma, addiction and negative thinking.
PushPull Podcast episode 26: ‘Geek Mental Help Week’
We talk about all the factors that effect any geek’s mental health, and how everyone needs to pay attention to both their physical and mental health. We also discuss seeking help, including where and how to find it, and we share our own experiences and struggles.
Events
To add an event, follow the README guidelines and submit a pull request.
Be Responsive Meetup
Be Responsive always have group discussion at their monthly meetup. This time they chose "Mental Help" as their discussion topic. With their attendees, they'll discuss how to overcome depression, burnout, anxiety, as well as how to achieve work and life balance.
MK Geek Night Mental Help Night
MKGN Mental Help Night is a special format with five headline speakers who either suffer or care themselves. There will be plenty of time in the night for you to meet and chat with our speakers and your fellow attendees.
The Web Is…
Andrew Clarke is devoting his session at the end of The Web Is conference to Geek Mental Help Week and will be talking with Christopher Murphy, Cole Henley, Relly Annett-Baker and Dr. Clare Symons.
More Resources
Some places to get support. To add a link, follow the README guidelines and submit a pull request.
Helplines and Services compiled by the NHS
"Whether you're concerned about yourself or a loved one, these helplines can offer expert advice."
Samaritans
"If you're given the time and space to talk things through, you can find a way through your problems. Samaritans help you to explore your options so you can make decisions that are right for you."
Mind
"Mind can help you make choices about treatment, understand your rights or reach out to sources of support."
SANE
"SANE provides emotional support and information to anyone affected by mental illness, including families, friends and carers. "