
Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe - inglesp
http://2015.djangocon.eu/news/wellbeing/
======
piqufoh
What a great idea, and how very well done (the anonymous post-it note booking
system). Kudos to the organisers for their prescience and understanding of
their attendees, more of this please!

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secstate
Kudos to the DjangCon Europe organizers for setting this up. I was recently
listening to a sermon on Abraham Lincoln (the U.S. President in office during
the civil war) who suffered from such crippling depression during his life
that there's no way he'd be electable today.

Such is the exposure to the details of a persons life in the 21st century, but
I feel like that makes it even more important to publicly address mental
health issues. Folks should not suffer alone, and should not be made to feel
less capable or important because they struggle with mental health.

~~~
cmdkeen
Winston Churchill suffered from depression he called his "black dog". He wrote
to avoid it, and his prolific output, and indeed alcoholism, should be viewed
through that prism.

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lclarkmichalek
Hooray for mental health awareness! I wonder if any of the big tech companies
(Goog, FB, Appl) do anything like this, or more generally, do anything to help
with employee mental health wellness.

~~~
tomaskazemekas
One example could be Google. It has initiated and developed mindfulness based
Search Inside Yourself program. [http://siyli.org/](http://siyli.org/)

~~~
patrickmclaren
Thanks for linking that. Do you know any more about it? I see a component of
their curriculum is "Emotional Resilience", curious to see how much of the
program is focused on that aspect as opposed to what signals I choose to
broadcast to others.

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fitshipit
I would love to see this at hackathons and conferences everywhere. So many
people need help but are so ashamed to ask for it (particularly in our field)
that you literally need to make talking to someone as convenient as getting a
McDonald's hamburger to get them to seek help.

~~~
TTPrograms
I don't think it's so much an issue of shame always, but rather that often one
of the symptoms of something like depression is lack of motivation to seek
help.

This is the ultimate challenge with mental health - as you said, it has to be
exceedingly convenient for someone in that situation to get help. Otherwise
it's a perpetual feedback loop.

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parennoob
"To complicate matters, most of the people in the industry are young men, a
cohort not good at acknowledging their own problems, or understanding other
people’s."

Does this not seem like oversimplification and rampant stereotyping?

I am a "young man" (well, below 30 anyway, though in SV I'm probably a bit
long in the tooth), and it hurts to be constantly and systematically belittled
in this manner. I have problems, and other people in the industry do too.
Singling out one particular gender and age group and making them the bad party
doesn't help anyone.

A great related article:
([http://mainisusuallyafunction.blogspot.com/2014/06/on-
depres...](http://mainisusuallyafunction.blogspot.com/2014/06/on-depression-
privilege-and-online.html))

~~~
hedwall
I read that sentence as 'there is a systemic problem in society that young men
aren't allowed to be fragile, sad &c' and that with the overlap between men in
tech and that problem, we have an opportunity to give you a nudge in the right
direction, should you need it.

~~~
coroxout
I read it as that too, and I applaud that sentiment, but I agree that the "or
understanding other people's" seems a bit harsh in context.

I'd even agree that in my own early 20s I was quite bad at appreciating the
perspectives and life experiences of people from different backgrounds, but
it's not the best way to gain the trust of people who might benefit from the
service!

I suppose they mentioned it to suggest that you may not feel comfortable
opening up to your colleagues and/or social group, especially if they are
young men who are traditionally expected to put on a front of everything being
fine and may not be open to emotional/personal discussions, which is a valid
concern; but it's a shame it sounds like it's questioning the empathy of many
of its readers.

Forgot to say: this is a really nice idea, I hope it works well.

~~~
DanieleProcida
Just to clarify: in saying that as a cohort, young men are not good at
acknowledging their own difficulties or understanding other people's we don't
mean that they don't care, or wouldn't care if they understood.

It's certainly not blaming them, or making a moral judgement. It's absolutely
nothing to do with being "emotionally stunted". The gap is one of
understanding, and it's a cultural one.

Since young men make up most of this industry, this tends to make the industry
as a whole bad at understanding and dealing with these kinds of problems,
which in turn makes it harder for the individuals in it to understand better.

~~~
mcantelon
Men don't have a monopoly on "burnout, exhaustion, depression" so the negative
blanket statements about men could be left out entirely.

~~~
DanieleProcida
The first part of that is true, but they are the ones who are least likely to
seek help, and the most likely to be at DjangoCon. This is why we are
addressing young men in particular.

~~~
parennoob
I see what you mean; you were addressing the major target demographic.

I think the part about "not good at acknowledging their own problems, or
understanding other people" could have possibly been phrased better (your
"least likely to seek help" makes far more sense). However, given this broader
background, I see that the intentions of this counseling are good.

Thanks a lot for making it happen!

~~~
Dewie
I think we have to forgive Daniele for making a bull-headed statement, since
he is probably not that socially sensitive by virtue of being a man.

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suhailpatel
Such a fantastic idea. There really needs to be more awareness on Mental
Health and this is a great step towards that.

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sago
Go Daniele, such a great guy and a passionate organizer.

~~~
bshimmin
I only know Daniele from usenet a good few years ago now, but certainly
"great" and "compassionate" are two words that would certainly be applicable
to him. I had no idea he was involved with Django or its conferences, but it's
no surprise to me that he's having a positive impact.

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tomjen3
>Booking a slot will simply be a matter of taking a Post-It note with a time
on it from the appointments board, anonymously and discreetly.

It will take less than an hour before some ass removes all the post-it notes.
Sorry, but that system has too much fate in humans.

------
dvfjsdhgfv
correct the typo DjanoCon -> DjangoCon

------
collyw
Burnout and exhaustion are a mental health issues?

I though they were more of a problem with prioritizing things in your life.

Edit: I have suffered from both of these things myself, and I never considered
myself to have mental health problems. In my case it was (still is) a case of
taking a step back and re-prioritizing things. Apparently I shouldn't tell
myself that?

~~~
Dewie
It's unclear whether you're asking a genuine question, or just using a
rhetorical one to dismiss the idea altogether. I guess the lack of question
mark on the second line points to it being the latter.

Consider that if you're already burned out - even if they "just" had to do
with bad life prioritize - it's often not like you can just quit whatever
you're doing and go on a retreat. You still have that 9-5 job, or whatever
more heavy-weight responsibilities. Then it doesn't really matter what the
original cause was - it's a mental health issue.

~~~
collyw
I would say it is a work life balance issue.

I am not saying its not a problem, but I am struggling to see it as a mental
health issue.

The first hit I got on Google doesn't talk about exhaustion or burnout. It
does mention depression, which I agree with.

[http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/an-
introduct...](http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/an-introduction-
to-mental-health/what-are-mental-health-problems/)

~~~
DanBC
The first sentence: "Mental health problems range from the worries we all
experience as part of everyday life to serious long-term conditions."

EDIT: [http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-
healt...](http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-
a-z/S/stress/)

> All sorts of situations can cause stress. The most common involve work,
> money matters and relationships with partners, children or other family
> members. Stress may be caused either by major upheavals and life events such
> as divorce, unemployment, moving house and bereavement, or by a series of
> minor irritations such as feeling undervalued at work or dealing with
> difficult children. Sometimes there are no obvious causes.

> Stressful events that are outside the range of normal human experience, for
> example being abused or tortured, may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder
> (PTSD).

> Some stress can be positive. Research shows that a moderate level of stress
> makes us perform better. It also makes us more alert and can help us perform
> better in situations such as job interviews or public speaking. Stressful
> situations can also be exhilarating and some people actually thrive on the
> excitement that comes with dangerous sports or other high-risk activities.

> But stress is only healthy if it is short-lived. Excessive or prolonged
> stress can lead to illness and physical and emotional exhaustion. Taken to
> extremes, stress can be a killer.

~~~
tomjen3
Isn't that the main issue? We can easily dismiss depression because everybody
feels sad sometimes, we can easily dismiss burn-out as you just don't feel
motivated, etc.

~~~
DanBC
Yes, sadness is a normal part of life and we don't want to treat sadness as a
medical condition. Sometimes that sadness interferes with day to day life, and
it doesn't seem to be going away. Most people who experience grief will work
through it; the grief changes. So when these problems start interfering with
day to day living is when people need help.

And for most people that's going to be small interventions - having a coffee
with a friend who is talking to you for example. The interventions taper up as
the severity of the illness increases. Talking therapies; medication; hospital
in-patient stays; rarely, if someone is at risk of death or of harming other
people they can be hospitalised against their will; even more rarely there's
ECT.

We know that early intervention is important. And modern mental health
services should be talking about "resilience" which increases someones ability
to cope with daily life.

