The open source talk that changed my life wasn’t technical

The first PHP conference I ever went to changed my life. I saw Ed Finkler talking about his struggles with mental health issues. I related so well with everything he said and was shocked to find out not everyone feels this way. Come learn about Open Sourcing Mental Illness, a nonprofit built on a movement of changing how we talk about mental health in the tech community. We’ll talk about survey results from multiple years of OSMI’s Mental Health In Tech surveys showing how employees feel about discussing mental health issues with employers and coworkers.

We’ll talk about resources, where and how to find help. The most important thing is to know you’re not alone.

Transcript

1. The open source talk that changed my life wasn't technical Joe Ferguson May 19th 2018
2. Who Am I? Joe Ferguson PHP Developer PHP Architect @ Ministry Brands Twitter: @JoePFerguson OSMI Board Member Drone Racing Pilot
3. Awkward Audience Participation Time
4. A little about me
5. Depression
6. Anxiety
7. ADHD
8. I take meds
9. Every Day Occurrence
10. Sometimes it’s awesome
11. Sometimes it’s terrible
12. Worldwide
13. W.H.O. Study Global Burden of Disease
14. http://www.who.int/ healthinfo/ global_burden_disease
15. Burden of Mental Disorders is the largest of all categories in North America (W.H.O. 2008)
16. Greater than Cardiovascular Disease (W.H.O. 2008)
17. Greater than Cancer (W.H.O. 2008)
18. “In all regions, neuropsychiatric conditions are the most important causes of disability, accounting for around one third of Years Lost to Disability among adults aged 15 years and over” (W.H.O. 2008)
19. 1/3 of every year lost to disability
20. Looking at the Tech Community
21. Basically No Research
22. We started doing research
23. /dev/hell Episode 15
24. 2013 - in the beginning…
25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tlblen66FE
26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHX9-B06g-Y
27. My First PHP Conference https://tek14.phparch.com/
28. Mental Health Summit https://tek14.phparch.com/mental-health-summit/
29. Crowdfunding
30. Making it official…
31. Mental Health in Tech 2016 Survey US non-self employed only as of 11/16/16 osmihelp.org/research
32. Do you think that discussing a health issue with your employer would have negative consequences? Mental Physical
33. Would you bring up a health issue with a potential employer in an interview? Mental Physical
34. Does your employer provide resources to learn more about mental health issues and how to seek help?
35. Do you feel that being identified as a person with a mental health issue would hurt your career?
36. Have you been diagnosed with a mental health condition?
37. Sick workers don’t work
38. Why should we talk about Mental Health?
39. Mental wellness leads to better employees
40. -Greg Baugues “We talk about 10x developers as being a fairy tale, but you take a developer with crippling depression, get them to the right treatment, and they will literally be 10x more productive.”
41. Change is hard, and usually slow
42. OSMI Handbooks
43. Speak openly about mental health
44. Tell people they matter
45. Numbers tell us facts; Stories tell us why we care
46. - Stories from Developers “It really sucks to have a brain that wants to continually sabotage you and keeps you from reaching your potential.”
47. - Stories from Developers “I always want to go out and meet others in the development field, but I can't get myself to go to any of the meetups or conferences. I'd gone to one day conference but was too nervous to talk with any of the other attendees. I left feeling like an idiot for not introducing myself to anyone.”
48. - Stories from Developers “I deal with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and take the same meds you do. I first noticed this condition as a teenager, and I'm almost 30 now. I'm still incredibly embarrassed about the condition and most likely will not tweet about this topic out of pure shame, unfortunately.”
49. Communities are about people
50. Communities are about people Not Code
51. Suffering in Silence Our Community Our Colleagues Our Friends Our People
52. Sometimes they disappear
53. Only fear allows this
54. Stronger Than Fear
55. What can you do? Talk to your friends, colleagues Share the OSMI handbooks, message Tell people they matter, speak openly Get certified in mental health first aid
56. Joe Ferguson Twitter: @JoePFerguson Email: joe@joeferguson.me Freenode: joepferguson Contact Info: http://osmihelp.org