Mental illness is just as real as being physically unwell. I think it’s important that as a gaming community we acknowledge the truth of the situation. The fact is that developers do seem to have much higher rates of depression, more social anxiety, and if we don’t look out for each other, who will?
It was my good friend Madison who first linked me to this video, I thought it may benefit someone you know, too.
This is a talk given by Greg Baugues on August 16 2013 at Steel City Ruby in Pittsburgh, PA. I enjoyed listening to his experiences and could relate to some of them too. I don’t think pharmaceuticals are the only fix, for instance I have been reading great success stories involving a change to a diet with more quality raw food. But that’s a discussion for another day. The important thing is that we as a community can accept that maybe we aren’t all wired up the same, and to offer help to those who may need it.
Greg says;
“I am a developer, and I have Type II Bipolar and ADHD.
Over the last six months I’ve been writing and speaking about mental illness in the developer community, ever since we lost one of our coworkers, Caleb Cornman, to untreated mental illness. There’s a lot of shame around being sick, and mental illness is treated much differently than physical illness, which causes people who are suffering to avoid finding help.
In this talk I will share the story of my struggles with depression, and getting diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar, why it’s especially relevant for developers, and how we can help those around us who are suffering from mental illness.”
[vimeo id=”72690223″ width=”600″ height=”350″]
