Mental health resources and articles for the developer community. Curated by Ed Finkler.
ragarwal:
But part of it is also understanding that I will sometimes slip, as we all do, and that is okay. I want to share my story because I want people to know these things don’t all have bad endings, that there are happy people out there with a history of such things, that body image issues are real and alive, that respecting yourself is so important to lasting mental health…
Most recently I went through a claustrophobic and dark winter where it took all of my strength to just keep plodding through day by day. A cold and gloomy winter, frustration about my job, stalled projects, constant lack of sleep and adjusting to living without 20 doses of nicotine a day all wore on my soul and sapped my energy.
The insidious thing about depression is that it takes determination and energy to beat it, but like an emotional infection it targets all the energy and determination you have. In a twist of dark irony, depression seems to specifically weaken the tools you need to stand up to it – your relationships, your ambition, your sense of humor.
So what do you when you’re at work sitting in front of a computer trying and failing to concentrate on the code in front of you? What if even the most straightforward requirements seem like impenetrable nests of complications and edge cases to your tired mind?
The only criticism I have of the post is that it does a bit of cure evangelism, advocating that medication should be your first choice — as opposed to saying “this is what worked for me.” The comments are much worse in this regard (“Skip the drugs”), but as usual, don’t read the comments.
Everyone’s path to wellness is different. This isn’t Python: there is no One True Way to mental health.
“I was very nervous about coming out as anxious,” Stossel says. “And now it’s too late and I can’t un-come out. It hasn’t been a cure, but it has been something of a relief. I now feel there are practical things I can help with, like trying to reduce the stigma around anxiety.”
He says we ought to view anxiety less as a “psychological problem” and more like a “medical condition, in the way gout or diabetes is. These are things that need to be managed and treated, and have an organic basis. It’s not necessarily that you are weak, but that you have an illness.”
Yet while we understand how our modern diet is making gout and diabetes more common, the causes of anxiety are more mysterious.
The only thing we have that matters is the love we share with each other. Nothing else. Nothing at all.
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