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.
Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#22Burnout 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?
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 wha…
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...
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
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…
Men don't have a monopoly on "burnout, exhaustion, depression" so the negative blanket statements about men could be left out entirely.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 wha…
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...
> I would say it is a work life balance issue.
Did you even read my second paragraph? Even though it might be caused by a bad work/life balance, that doesn't mean that it isn't a mental issue when you eventually become burnt out.
It's like a depressed person who starts exercising and gets some relief from that - "Oh, then it seems that your problem was your physical fitness, not anything to do with depression". It seems a bit myopic.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 wha…
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...
Put physical stress on your body for too long and it will take damage. Why should the same principle not apply to your mind?
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#26Hooray 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.
I think it's good to see this outside of an employer-managed context. It avoids the problem of someone being afraid to use a service because they assume their boss will get a report even if it's supposed to be anonymous.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Men don't have a monopoly on "burnout, exhaustion, depression" so the negative blanket statements about men could be left out entirely.
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.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#28Kudos 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.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#29Hooray 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.
One example could be Google. It has initiated and developed mindfulness based Search Inside Yourself program. http://siyli.org/
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.
Re: Looking after your wellbeing at DjangoCon Europe
#30I 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.
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.