[DutchPHP] Empathy as a Service: Supporting Mental Health in the Tech Workplace

Transcript

1. Empathy as a Service:
   Supporting Mental Health
   in the Tech Workplace
   Nara Kasbergen (@xiehan)
   Dutch PHP Conference 2017 July 1, 2017
   #dpc17
   

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2. Topics covered
   1. Numbers and nomenclature
   2. Why I speak up about this
   3. What can we do?
   ○ pragmatic, common-sense, action-oriented;
   anyone can do these things!
   4. What must we do together?
   ○ difficult, aspirational;
   everyone has to do their part
   

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3. Numbers and nomenclature
   

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4. 1 in 5
   adults will experience mental illness in
   their lifetime
   Source: Trimbos.nl
   

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5. 1 in 14
   Dutch people living with diabetes
   Source: Diabetes Fonds
   

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6. 1 in 10
   Dutch people living with asthma
   Source: Volksgezondheidenzorg.info
   

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7. 1 in 14
   Dutch people living with arthritis
   Source: Volksgezondheidenzorg.info
   

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8. Mental illness is one
   of the most prevalent
   chronic health conditions,
   but we don’t talk about it
   

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9. An incomplete list of mental illnesses
   Depression
   Generalized anxiety
   disorder
   Bipolar disorder
   Substance use disorder
   (alcoholism)
   Eating disorder (anorexia,
   bulimia)
   ADHD
   PTSD
   Obsessive-compulsive
   disorder (OCD)
   Impulse control disorder
   Schizophrenia
   Antisocial personality
   disorder
   Dissociative identity
   disorder
   Autism spectrum disorders*
   Burnout**
   

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10. depression is at least
    10x more prevalent
    than schizophrenia
    in The Netherlands
    

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11. Symptoms of major depression
    ● Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness,
    hopelessness
    ● Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration
    ● Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities
    ● Sleep disturbances (insomnia or sleeping too much)
    ● Tiredness and lack of energy
    ● Changes in appetite
    ● Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
    Source: Mayo Clinic
    

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12. “Telling someone not to be sad
    because others have it worse
    is like telling people they
    can’t be happy because others
    have it better.”
    - Unknown
    

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13. Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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14. Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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15. Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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16. 1 in 3
    Dutch individuals with mental illness do not
    seek professional help
    Source: Volksgezondheidenzorg.info
    

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17. rate at which women seek treatment for mental
    illness compared to men
    1.5x
    Source: CBS
    

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18. 70%
    of suicides in The Netherlands are likely
    attributable to depression
    Source: Volksgezondheidenzorg.info
    

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19. ranking of depressive disorders (worldwide)
    by the Global Burden of Disease project
    #3
    Source: WHO
    

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20. 23%
    percentage of hospitalization expenditures
    that are spent on mental and behavioral
    healthcare in The Netherlands
    Source: CBS
    

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21. 14%
    of Dutch employees have reported experiencing
    symptoms of burnout
    Source: Trimbos.nl
    

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22. €11.5 billion
    estimated annual cost of absenteeism from
    work and lost productivity
    Source: Trimbos.nl
    

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23. €40,000/year
    estimated increase in revenue for each
    business with 100 employees that reduces
    workplace absenteeism by 1%
    Source: Trimbos.nl
    

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24. Why people do not speak up
    ● Fear of dismissal
    ● Fear of being taken out of promotion consideration
    ● Fear of being taken off high-value projects
    ● Fear of reduced hours (for hourly workers)
    ● Fear of being asked to take unpaid medical leave
    ● Fear of being treated differently
    

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25. “Leave your personal
    life at home when you
    come to work.”
    

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26. Why I speak up about this
    

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27. I’m a software engineer.
    I identify as mentally healthy.
    

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28. Ni Mu. July 13, 1988 - September 14, 2016
    

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29. it's on Medium
    or
    bit.ly/2oYYyOR
    (warning: it's 6,000+ words)
    I wrote a blog post
    

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30. September 16, 2016
    NationJS in McLean, VA
    

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31. Open Sourcing Mental Illness: osmihelp.org Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    

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32. Source: osmihelp.org/research
    

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33. “I could do so many awesome
    things if only my own head
    didn’t get in the way.”
    - Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    

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34. What can we do?
    

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35. Characteristics of tech workplaces and culture
    ● The work is challenging and stressful
    ● Our jobs are highly collaborative
    ● Many of us have relocated for a job
    ● Most of us work remotely at least part of the time
    ● We're often expected to be available outside of
    regular work hours
    ● Someone needs to fix things when they break (even
    if that happens overnight)
    ● There is a heavy emphasis on drinking culture
    

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36. Relocation
    

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37. Relocation
    Positive:
    ● Much easier to feel a
    part of the team and
    helping toward the
    mission if you are
    on-site
    ● Can bring you closer to
    a community of
    practitioners in your
    field than where you
    currently are
    

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38. Relocation
    Positive:
    ● Much easier to feel a
    part of the team and
    helping toward the
    mission if you are
    on-site
    ● Can bring you closer to
    a community of
    practitioners in your
    field than where you
    currently are
    Negative:
    ● Takes someone away from
    the existing support
    structures they have
    already built up
    ● Generally stressful
    ● Making new friends as an
    adult is surprisingly
    hard!
    

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39. Relocation
    Solutions:
    ● As a community, stop saying that the best way to
    succeed in tech is to relocate to Silicon Valley;
    become more accepting of alternative choices
    ● If you are a manager, take another look at your
    hiring practices and see whether remote
    employment is an option
    ● Create a "Welcome Wagon" for new colleagues who
    have had to relocate to join your company
    

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40. Free idea: "The Welcome Wagon"
    ● Take the new employee out for lunch or dinner
    with the team. Avoid alcohol at their first
    social event.
    ● Team members take turns introducing the new
    employee to activities and events in the area,
    e.g.
    ○ Invite them to join your book club meeting!
    ○ Invite them to go rock climbing!
    ○ Invite them to join your bocce league!
    ○ Invite them to go volunteering with you!
    

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41. Remote work
    

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42. Remote work
    Positive:
    ● Flexible hours
    ● Easier to attend daytime
    therapy appointments
    ● Easier to stick to
    medication regimens
    ● Easier to take breaks
    ● (Usually) quiet &
    peaceful
    

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43. Remote work
    Positive:
    ● Flexible hours
    ● Easier to attend daytime
    therapy appointments
    ● Easier to stick to
    medication regimens
    ● Easier to take breaks
    ● (Usually) quiet &
    peaceful
    Negative:
    ● Sense of isolation
    ● Harder to build strong
    relationships with
    co-workers
    ● Harder to tell if
    colleagues are doing OK
    (health-wise)
    ● Can make it more
    challenging to maintain
    work-life balance
    

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44. Remote work
    Solutions:
    ● Make funds available for employees to join a
    co-working space (or encourage your colleagues to
    do so)
    ● Fly in remote employees or hold company-wide
    off-sites together to make sure they feel part of
    the team
    ● Look into the latest research on remote work
    culture, improvements you can make to integrate
    remote employees
    

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45. “But what about
    open plan offices?”
    

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46. Open plan offices
    Positive:
    ● More conducive to
    collaboration, creative
    problem-solving between
    multiple employees
    ● Easier to construct
    because of things like
    fire code
    ● Can increase sense of
    team unity, camaraderie
    

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47. Open plan offices
    Positive:
    ● More conducive to
    collaboration, creative
    problem-solving between
    multiple employees
    ● Easier to construct
    because of things like
    fire code
    ● Can increase sense of
    team unity, camaraderie
    Negative:
    ● Noise reduces
    productivity
    ● Lack of privacy
    ● Increased stress
    ● Increased peer pressure
    ● Highly conducive to the
    spread of disease (cold,
    flu, etc.)
    

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48. Open plan offices
    Solutions:
    ● Allow employees to work remotely (or increase the
    number of days per week or per month when they
    can do so)
    ● Urge employees to work from home when sick
    ● Set aside small meeting spaces for quiet work
    ● Have the company provide noise-canceling
    headphones
    ● Encourage employees to decorate their workspace
    

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49. On-call rotations
    

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50. On-call rotations
    Positive:
    ● A huge burden being
    shared among the team
    improves sense of team
    unity, camaraderie
    ● Engineers have a way to
    prove their
    understanding of the
    technical systems and
    ability to manage a
    crisis
    

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51. On-call rotations
    Positive:
    ● A huge burden being
    shared among the team
    improves sense of team
    unity, camaraderie
    ● Engineers have a way to
    prove their
    understanding of the
    technical systems and
    ability to manage a
    crisis
    Negative:
    ● Expecting the unexpected
    can be very difficult
    for those with serious
    anxiety disorders
    ● Lack of sleep or
    interrupted sleep is bad
    for mental health
    ● High stress can lead to
    burnout
    

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52. On-call rotations
    Solutions:
    ● Fix tech issues to make being on-call less
    stressful
    ● If someone is called in the middle of the night,
    give them adequate time to catch up on sleep
    ● For employees with serious anxiety disorders, see
    if there's a way to take them out of the on-call
    rotation without making them feel like they're
    not contributing
    

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53. Alcohol at tech events
    

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54. Alcohol at tech events
    Positive:
    ● One or two drinks can
    make it easier for some
    introverts and those
    with social anxiety to
    socialize with peers
    ● It's become expected in
    tech culture; if you
    don't offer it, those
    who want to drink will
    go find a bar instead of
    staying to mingle with
    others at the event
    

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55. Alcohol at tech events
    Positive:
    ● One or two drinks can
    make it easier for some
    introverts and those
    with social anxiety to
    socialize with peers
    ● It's become expected in
    tech culture; if you
    don't offer it, those
    who want to drink will
    go find a bar instead of
    staying to mingle with
    others at the event
    Negative:
    ● Non-drinkers feel
    unwelcome
    ● Recovering alcoholics
    feel threatened by the
    environment
    ● Free alcohol and drinking
    culture are so pervasive
    that there are probably
    more functioning
    alcoholics in tech than
    we're aware of
    

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56. Alcohol at tech events
    Solutions:
    ● Offer nice alternatives (fancy sodas, mocktails)
    for non-drinkers to make them feel included
    ● Put a limit on the number of free drinks
    (use tickets or tokens)
    ● Have activities other than drinking (board games?)
    ● In a recurring series (e.g. monthly meetup), try
    alternating dry/non-dry events
    ● Add workplace wellness programs on substance abuse
    

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57. Managers: Lead by example
    ● Don't micro-manage
    ● Leave the office on time
    ● Take regular vacations
    ● Don't send or answer e-mails at 2am if possible
    ● Be receptive to feedback on your own performance
    ● Be a good listener
    ● Be open to talking about your own health and
    mental health
    

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58. Other action items for managers
    ● Make sure your employees understand their health
    rights (e.g. medical leave of absence),
    especially with regard to burnout & mental health
    ● Revisit your hiring practices with an eye to
    mental illness and neurodiversity
    ● Make sure your employees feel valued and are on
    projects that they find fulfilling and empowering
    ● Get the OSMI handbooks (leanpub.com/u/osmi)
    ● Consider offering Mental Health First Aid
    

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59. Mental Health First Aid (mhfa.nl)
    ● Learn first aid for someone
    experiencing a mental health
    crisis; how best to help
    ● International training course
    ● 4x3 hours spread over 4-5 weeks
    ● Usually costs €275 per person
    including materials
    ● Began in Australia; available
    in the U.S., The Netherlands,
    and most countries in the EU
    

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60. ALGEE, the Mental Health First Aid action plan
    

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61. What must we do together?
    

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62. Support marginalized people in tech
    ● Chronic harassment, bullying, and
    microaggressions can lead to depression,
    exacerbate eating disorders, and cause or worsen
    other mental illnesses
    ● Even in tech, women are still judged by their
    appearance
    ● People from marginalized groups feel they have to
    over-perform (to counteract the "lowering the
    bar" myth), which leads to increased stress and a
    greater likelihood of burnout
    

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63. Embrace neurodiversity
    ● Mental illnesses like ADHD and autism are the
    result of natural variations of the human genome
    ● "People with differences do not need to be cured;
    they need help and accommodation instead."
    ● Some of our greatest inventions are attributed to
    people with atypical neurology
    ● "Mental illness gives me superpowers." - Ed Finkler
    ● hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-
    advantage
    

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64. Things we can only change as a culture
    ● "All the best developers I know are always coding
    on the weekends and during holidays."
    ● The need to always be available by phone/e-mail
    ● The peer pressure caused by social media
    ● The belief that you must be in Silicon Valley to
    truly succeed as a software engineer
    ● The stigma against talking about our feelings
    ● The idea that engineers don't have empathy
    

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65. “Empathy is the antidote
    to shame.”
    - Andrea Goulet (@andreagoulet)
    

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66. "Empathy as a Service"
    

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67. There is no app for this
    

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68. “I could do so many awesome
    things if only my own head
    didn’t get in the way.”
    - Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    

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69. Resources
    Want to help?
    ● reach out. ask questions.
    listen. tell your friends
    you care.
    ● osmihelp.org
    ● mhprompt.org
    ● if-me.org
    ● mhfa.nl
    ● iFightDepression.com
    Need help?
    ● talk to someone: a
    friend, relative,
    counselor, etc.
    ● forums.osmihelp.org
    ● psyned.nl
    ● 0900-0113 or 113.nl
    ● 0900-0767 or 030-2943344
    (sensoor.nl)
    

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70. Questions?
    Thoughts? Comments?
    nara@nara.codes
    @xiehan
    osmihelp.org/donate
    dedicated to Ni Mu
    

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