On the other words: All this software development shits are NOT for EARTH. They are for the price competition of capitalist system and can only impact prices in capitalist cities, nothing more than this. Don't put so much meaning and don't think you're becoming a better person when you commit to a repository.
Garzik: An Andre To Remember
21–30 of 75 posts
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#22I haven't been formally diagnosed with bipolar, but I sure as heck have many of the symptoms, including feeling elation and depression at the same time. I also have chronic depression.
What does that mean? Nothing, except I completely see myself in Andre's description. What am I doing about it? Exercising, reading affirmations, trying to watch the diet (tough when broke) etc, etc.
But I read Andre's story and it makes me very sad.
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#23It's hard to disagree with the general sentiment, but trading a life for a computing project is not really what happened here. Software development does not cause mental illness. In some cases, stressful jobs contribute to a person's mental degradation - but it's not like there was ever an option of trading in this guys passion for technology in exchange for a healthy brain.
> Software development does not cause mental illness.
Correct, no job/task does.
But burnout can, and any task/job/what-ever can cause that if you let yourself get into an unhealthy cycle while performing it. Development seems to be a task that is more prone to this though, I think because with many other tasks (that are more physical) other parts of your body tend to give out first and you have to take a break (if only to sleep or (eventually) pass out if you don't sleep voluntarily) before the point where your brain jumps track.
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#24I was going to respond to a few of the comments here, but then I realized I was going to say pretty much the same to all of them, so here goes: I've got clinical depression. What this means is that there is something fundamentally wrong in my brain that causes me to be depressed. There is no direct environmental cause that makes me depressed. Now, here's what many people get wrong about severe depression: Severe depr…
I also have clinical depression, and this has also been my experience.
Something which also adds to the problems is that people so often condescend - 'you won't feel better unless you do X, Y or Z' and actually essentially accuse you of bringing it on yourself. And a lot of the problem is the guilt you feel about everything, so it's the worst possible thing you can do for a depressed person.
I find having some project that gives you an output is important, to contradict the standard 'oh don't spend so much time on a computer project' points. The alternative a lot of the time for me is spending all day in bed because I feel so low, so having an outlet matters. But of course you then find it hard to balance that.
Having said that, all the standard healthy advice is important too. It's just really important to differentiate between mild and severe depression - it's like the difference between having the flu and people recommending painkillers and having a serious chronic disease. The advice is good for mild depression but really not going to touch anything for the severe variety.
For people who are lucky enough not to suffer from severe depression - don't presume to know what it's like because you've felt a little bit low before.
/rant
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#25I was going to respond to a few of the comments here, but then I realized I was going to say pretty much the same to all of them, so here goes: I've got clinical depression. What this means is that there is something fundamentally wrong in my brain that causes me to be depressed. There is no direct environmental cause that makes me depressed. Now, here's what many people get wrong about severe depression: Severe depr…
Have any forms of cognitive behaviour therapy or say innerchild/regression therapy helped or been explored? Have you explored dietary changes? Did you have ear infections as a child (relevant question)?
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#26RIP Andre. This makes me think about the people I interact with every day, I have friends who won't accept they even have a problem and believe everything is fine. They seem unble to see it, how do you convince someone like that to go to a therapist?
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#27I was going to respond to a few of the comments here, but then I realized I was going to say pretty much the same to all of them, so here goes: I've got clinical depression. What this means is that there is something fundamentally wrong in my brain that causes me to be depressed. There is no direct environmental cause that makes me depressed. Now, here's what many people get wrong about severe depression: Severe depr…
In my experience, depression is something you can't cure. You can fix it for a while, but it always lurks, waiting to come back.
In my case, environmental changes ensure that it won't show up again as strong or as fast. I'm pretty sure I don't need medication right now.
But that's not to say I'm cured by any means. Just that I'm doing better and finding ways of coping with it.
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#28It's hard to disagree with the general sentiment, but trading a life for a computing project is not really what happened here. Software development does not cause mental illness. In some cases, stressful jobs contribute to a person's mental degradation - but it's not like there was ever an option of trading in this guys passion for technology in exchange for a healthy brain.
Do you know of a stressful job that improves a person's mental state rather than degrades it? That is, what proportion of cases is "[i]n some cases?"
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#29It's hard to disagree with the general sentiment, but trading a life for a computing project is not really what happened here. Software development does not cause mental illness. In some cases, stressful jobs contribute to a person's mental degradation - but it's not like there was ever an option of trading in this guys passion for technology in exchange for a healthy brain.
That's not what's mentioned in the email. It's clearly said that mental illness is almost like an offshoot of intelligence, not software development. The phrase 'trading life for a computing project' was a metaphor.
I knew before starting to read the comments that there will be people scrutinizing the email literally and giving their opinions.
Jeff clearly mentions that obsessing over one thing is not worth it. Life's much more beautiful than that. This is not just for coding, but any profession requiring such heavy use of intelligence.
Re: Garzik: An Andre To Remember
#30And as usual with this issue, this post shows little understanding of depression. > There is no computing project that is worth your life. Turn off the computer. Seek help. Get outside, enjoy the green grass, the birds in the trees. Talk to people you know. Talk to strangers! Drive to Wisconsin, and find out whatever it is they do there. Build a treehouse. Park on a parkway and drive on a driveway. Make a macaroni ne…
It's saddening that people scrutinize everything literally and give opinions out of context. It's sometimes OK not to be scathingly logical and objective. We are humans, subjective and emotional beings, not binary numbers.