Developer's Mental Health

EDD [Experience Driven Development] - some basic information around the topic mental health/illness in IT

Transcript

1. DEVELOPER’S MENTAL HEALTH EDD [EXPERIENCE DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT]
2. MICHAEL SCHOLL • human • studied music therapy • doing web development since 10 years • baking bread • playing piano • father of 2 wonderful children • @mischosch / https://www.wesrc.com
3. WE ARE ALL HUMANS DON’T EXPECT ME TO BE AN EXCEPTION - I FAIL WITH MY OWN MENTAL HEALTH
4. HOW I LEARNED ABOUT COMPUTERS I TRIED, I FAILED, RM -RF /, TRIED AGAIN
5. HOW I LEARNED ABOUT LIFE I TRIED, I FAILED, GOT LEGACY, TRIED AGAIN
6. THERE IS NO FUCKING MANUAL
7. MENTAL HEALTH STARTS BEFORE YOU ARE BORN
8. MENTAL HEALTH • is connected to love • is connected to relationship • is connected to your childhood • is connected to experiences you had • is connected to much more than you might think
9. MENTAL HEALTH • your grandparents failed • your parents failed • you failed [and you will fail again] • this is not a problem, this is life!
10. MENTAL HEALTH • hard to define, what mental health is • „official“ definition: related to ability to be part of society (which is mostly defined through your capability to „work“ and „perform“ as expected) • in german: arbeitsfähig
11. MENTAL HEALTH • personal definition: it’s individual • it’s all about your coping strategies and being resilient
12. SOME FACTS / NUMBERS • 350 millions suffer depression worldwide * • gender makes a difference ** • social status makes a difference ** • suicide / heavy depression: 15% *** * http://www.bmg.bund.de/praevention/gesundheitsgefahren/depression.html ** http://www.geda-studie.de *** http://www.deutsche-depressionshilfe.de/stiftung/volkskrankheit-depression.php
13. SOME FACTS / NUMBERS http://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Gesundheitsmonitoring/Gesundheitsberichterstattung/GBEDownloadsB/ Geda2010/kapitel_psych_gesundheit.pdf
14. SOME FACTS / NUMBERS http://www.geda-studie.de
15. „Führende europäische Wirtschaftsunternehmen vereinigen sich, um einen potenziellen Verlust von 1 Milliarde Arbeitstagen wegen Depressionen zu verhindern.“ http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20131010_OTS0029/fuehrende-europaeische- wirtschaftsunternehmen-vereinigen-sich-um-einen-potenziellen-verlust-von-1-milliarde-arbeitstagen-wegen- depressionen-zu-verhindern SOME FACTS / NUMBERS
16. „Depression Costs U.S. Workplaces $23 Billion in Absenteeism“ http://www.gallup.com/poll/163619/depression-costs-workplaces-billion-absenteeism.aspx „About 12% of workers have been diagnosed with depression at some point“ SOME FACTS / NUMBERS
17. (Greenberg, et al., 2003) „The cost of depression (lost productivity and increased medical expenses) is $83 billion each year which exceeds the costs of the war in Afghanistan.“ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-leahy-phd/the-cost-of-depression_b_770805.html SOME FACTS / NUMBERS
18. SO, DEVELOPERS CAN BE EXPECTED TO LIVE A HEALTHY LIVE? think one moment about a kindergartener, single mother
19. DEVELOPER’S MENTAL HEALTH • 8h+ in front of a glowing display • seeking for being able to work without any disruption for long distance of time • social interactions are often based on using a device and a digital channel • no special education how to work inside a team • building abstract, logical system architecture - just out of the developers mind • drugs (coffein, mate, alcohol, nicotine, thc, amphetamine, …)
20. DEVELOPER’S MENTAL HEALTH • stressed out by meetings (social interaction) • stressed out by discussions, how to achieve something (flame wars about spaces vs tabs) • stressed out by not having clear team members roles • stressed out by managers not being trained for handling people with emotions and all that stuff, that comes up, if you try to build a team (it’s mostly not about code) • stressed out by the disruption of a working team by throwing new team members in and having the expectation, that there will be a instant production boost • stressed out by team processes in general • stressed out by missing empowerment and honor of done work
21. DEVELOPER’S MENTAL HEALTH • I didn’t meet this „typical archetype of an developer“ in real life - much diversity (besides being white and in most cases men, for my own experiences) • We’re all seen as human resource - thats common between us (or why have companies HR departments?)
22. SO, WHAT’S ABOUT EMOTIONS? Emotions are not a logical system. There is no manual for dealing with them, so „rtfm“ does not work at all.
23. SOME FACTS / NUMBERS • The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders [World Health Organization] • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 
 (DSM) - DSM-5 [2013] * • http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/bluebook.pdf
 (scroll through this and feel healthy!) * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders#DSM-5_critiques
24. F66 Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation Note: Sexual orientation alone is not to be regarded as a disorder. The following five-character codes may be used to indicate variations of sexual development or orientation that may be problematic for the individual: F66.x0 Heterosexual F66.x1 Homosexual F66.x2 Bisexual To be used only when there is clear evidence of sexual attraction to members of both sexes. F66.x8 Other, including prepubertal ICD-10 EXAMPLE
25. • Hamilton Skala (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Skala) • Questions: • depressed mood, • feelings of guilt, • suicide, • insomnia, • work and activities, • anxiety, • loss of weight, • insight • depersonalization and derealization • paranoid symptoms ICD-10 DEPRESSION - F32/33
26. • „Despite its great popularity, burnout is not recognized as a distinct disorder, neither in the DSM,nor in the ICD-10. This is notably due to the fact that burnout is problematically close to depressive disorders.“ [Wikipedia] • 12 Steps (by Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North): • The Compulsion to Prove Oneself • Working Harder • Neglecting Their Needs • Displacement of Conflicts • Revision of Values • Denial of Emerging Problems • Withdrawal • Obvious Behavioral Changes • Depersonalization • Inner Emptiness • Depression • Burnout Syndrome ICD-10 BURN OUT - Z73.0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)
27. • Every day is a bad day • You are no longer emotionally invested in your job or the work you’re doing • You feel unappreciated or do not feel like you’re making a difference in your job • There is a clear disconnect between your personal values and what is expected of you • Self-defined goals or those imposed on you are unrealistic or unreasonable • A significant amount of your day is focused on tasks that are not fulfilling on a personal or emotional level YOU MAY BE FLIRTING WITH BURNOUT IF http://alistapart.com/article/burnout
28. • This „mental illness“ fits IT sometimes quite good • 1.5% of children in the United States (one in 68) are diagnosed with ASD as of 2014, a 30% increase from one in 88 in 2012. • The number of people diagnosed with autism has been increasing dramatically since the 1980s, partly due to changes in diagnostic practice and government-subsidized financial incentives for named diagnoses; the question of whether actual prevalence has increased is unresolved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism AUTISM, ASPERGER - F84.0-4
29. • Presence of abnormal or impaired development before the age of three years • Qualitative abnormalities in reciprocal social interaction • Qualitative abnormalities in communication • Restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/GRNBOOK.pdf AUTISM, ASPERGER - F84.0-4
30. • not „Selbstmord“ - it is „Suizid“ (please!) • you won’t read about suicides inside the news • Remember: 15% of the people having a heavy depression decide to take that way out of their pain • People talk about it (not always, but in most cases) • You will recognize, but don’t like the feelings you get while being with another suicidal person • As a friend/colleague - get external help for yourself (and if possible, for the other one, too) - asap! • Committing suicide is an active action - this should/could be respected • There is no „right to die“ in most countries (think about people with incurable diseases in the very last phase of their malady) - religion influences and state law are not reflected well at that point - imho SUICIDE
31. SO, HOW…
32. SELF CARE • start having a [new] hobby (analog stuff) • start having a hobby, that enables you to express your emotions • start hacking your body (healthy food, sports) • start going out for a walk _every day_ • have a weekend without any devices • use (new?) structures and patterns 
 (try to overcome your weaker self) •
33. SELF CARE • use your community -> socialize • having friends working in another field then IT is not a bad thing • family - fill this placeholder yourself! • speak about your emotions at your job - instantly! • don’t think, you’re alone - you’re one of many • get external help, if needed…
34. BERLINER KRISENDIENST HTTP://WWW.BERLINER-KRISENDIENST.DE
35. FINDING HELP • your insurance [in Germany] allows you to visit 3 therapist before you select one • to get money from your insurance, the therapist needs to give the baby a name - talking about a diagnosis • finding a new (life) insurance with being in therapy last 5 years because of an official diagnose - could be a problem • most cases will start with a short-term therapy (20h) with a behavioral direction • you’re privileged - you can pay for it, if you want!
36. FINDING HELP • is not that easy, as you might imagine • therapy places are booked all over and you will be placed on waiting lists • 20h are not that much • a good therapist could only help you finding a solution yourself • there is no bugfix, there are only workarounds
37. FINDING HELP BUT IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH TO TRY IT 
 AND YOU DON’T NEED TO BE ASHAMED ABOUT IT
38. TEAM/COMMUNITY CARE • respect & empower other people • imagine code as architecture - if you talk to its architects, do it with respect • show respect for done work, if you want it another way, make a proposal in „I message“ style • have community/team roles - they are so important! • find community/team rules • apply community/team rules
39. TEAM/COMMUNITY CARE • if a new community/team member is added, start finding/ applying rules again • take onboarding of new community/team members really serious • new community/team members will def have effects to the rest of the team. Group dynamics change and that will have a huge impact - its up to the leaders, if it will be a good or bad impact • if you’re a new community/team member - show as much respect, as possible (ask all of your questions!) - please be aware, that you affect the rest of the group - be sensible
40. COMPANY CARE
41. COMPANY CARE • it’s all about humans, not human resources • it’s all about humans, not human resources [repeat] • managers need knowledge of group dynamics • managers need knowledge of human behavior • managers need knowledge of mental health! • managers need someone to reflect group dynamics in their team/company (extern mentor/supervision/consultation)
42. COMPANY CARE • forget about SCRUM, KANBAN and Agile until you have a good working team! • forget about sponsored food, kicker, table tennis and all that sweet candy - start offering a healthy working place for humans, that live a life besides their jobs • be careful with new team members - hire them, if they could fit into the team, not because they wrote that great new lib in brainfuck • allow the team to have great power - if you have a great team spirit, the team will rock
43. COMPANY CARE If you would like to talk about that stuff / searching for a Mentor with another point of view than increasing output feel free to contact: michael@wesrc.com
44. changing things is hard
45. we [as developers/managers/teams/communities] 
 could do so much better on so many levels
46. If we build communities/teams on top of that, we should have much less problems with diversity, privileges and mental health empathy, love, relationship, engagement
47. Thanks for listening!
48. SOME READINGS • Open Sourcing Mental Illness - MadisonPHP 2014 - funkatron - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX12UxsFEYg • Avoiding Burnout, and Other Essentials of Open Source Self-Care — Kathleen Danielson - http://vimeo.com/106232256 • http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/tech-has-a-depression-problem/380004/?single_page=true • http://medienelite.de/depression-i-dont-care/ • http://www.fastcompany.com/3036314/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/the-most-logical-yet-underrated-employee- engagement-strate • https://medium.com/@shamoons/why-your-previous-developer-was-terrible-506a06ae35ea • http://alistapart.com/article/burnout • http://alistapart.com/article/before-you-hire-designers • http://www.bdp-verband.de/aktuell/2008/bericht/BDP-Gesundheitsbericht-2008.pdf