[GHC19] Empathy as a Service: Supporting Mental Health in the Tech Workplace

Transcript

1. CR407: Empathy as a Service #GHC19
   

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2. Empathy
   as a Service
   Supporting Mental Health
   in the Tech Workplace
   Nara Kasbergen (@xiehan)
   Lead Software Engineer | NPR | Washington, DC
   Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing
   Wednesday, October 2, 2019
   #GHC19
   

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3. Topics covered
   1. What are we talking about?
   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
   #GHC19
   

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4. 1.
   #GHC19
   what even are we
   talking about?
   

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5. 1 in 5
   Americans living with mental illness at any given time
   #GHC19
   Source: Mental Health America
   

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6. Mental illness is one
   of the most prevalent
   chronic health conditions,
   but we don’t talk about it
   #GHC19
   

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7. An incomplete list of mental illnesses
   Depression
   Generalized anxiety disorder
   Bipolar disorder
   Substance use disorder (alcoholism)
   Eating disorder (bulimia)
   ADHD
   PTSD
   Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
   Impulse control disorder
   Antisocial personality disorder
   Schizophrenia
   Dissociative identity disorder
   Autism spectrum disorders*
   Burnout**
   #GHC19
   

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8. depression is at least
   13x more prevalent
   than schizophrenia
   in the United States
   #GHC19
   

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9. Symptoms of major depression
   o Feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness
   o Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration
   o Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities
   o Sleep disturbances (insomnia or sleeping too much)
   o Tiredness and lack of energy
   o Changes in appetite
   o Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
   #GHC19
   Source: Mayo Clinic
   

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10. 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
    #GHC19
    “
    

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11. #GHC19
    Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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12. #GHC19
    Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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13. #GHC19
    Source: robot-hugs.com
    

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14. 56%
    of U.S. adults with mental illness do not receive treatment
    #GHC19
    Source: Mental Health America
    

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15. 15%
    of those with severe depression die by suicide
    #GHC19
    Source: Mental Health America
    

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16. Why people do not speak up
    o Fear of dismissal
    o Fear of being taken out of promotion consideration
    o Fear of being taken off high-value projects/contracts
    o Fear of reduced hours (for hourly workers)
    o Fear of being asked to take unpaid medical leave
    o Fear of being treated differently
    #GHC19
    

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17. “Leave your personal life
    at home when you come
    to work.”
    #GHC19
    

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18. 2.
    #GHC19
    why do I speak up
    about this?
    

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19. I identify as mentally healthy.
    I’m a software engineer.
    #GHC19
    

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20. Ni Mu
    #GHC19
    July 13, 1988 –
    September 14, 2016
    

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21. it's on Medium
    or
    bit.ly/2oYYyOR
    (warning: it's 6,000+ words)
    I wrote a blog post
    #GHC19
    

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22. Open Sourcing
    Mental Illness
    (osmihelp.org)
    #GHC19
    

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23. #GHC19
    Source: OSMI
    

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24. I could do so many
    awesome things if
    only my own head
    didn’t get in the way.
    - Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    #GHC19
    “
    

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25. 3.
    #GHC19
    what can we do?
    

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26. Common characteristics of tech
    workplaces and tech culture
    o The work is challenging and stressful
    o Our jobs are highly collaborative
    o Many of us have relocated for a job
    o Most of us work remotely at least part of the time
    o We're often expected to be available outside work hours
    o Someone needs to fix things when they break overnight
    o There is a heavy emphasis on drinking culture
    #GHC19
    

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27. Relocation
    Positive:
    o Much easier to feel a part of the team and
    helping toward the mission if you're on-
    site
    o Can bring you closer to a community of
    practitioners in your field than where you
    currently are
    Negative:
    o Takes someone away from the existing
    support structures they have already built
    up
    o Generally stressful
    o Making new friends as an adult is
    surprisingly hard!
    #GHC19
    

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28. Relocation
    Solutions:
    o 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
    o If you are a manager, take another look at your hiring practices and see whether remote
    employment is an option
    o Introduce new colleagues who have had to relocate to activities and events in the area
    #GHC19
    

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29. Remote work
    Positive:
    o Flexible hours
    o Easier to attend daytime therapy
    appointments
    o Easier to stick to medication regimens
    o Easier to take breaks
    o Quiet & peaceful
    Negative:
    o Sense of isolation
    o Harder to build strong relationships with
    co-workers
    o Harder to tell if colleagues are doing OK
    (health-wise)
    o Can make it challenging to maintain
    work-life balance
    #GHC19
    

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30. Remote work
    Solutions:
    o Make funds available for employees to join a co-working space (or encourage your
    colleagues to do so)
    o Fly in remote employees or hold company-wide off-sites to make sure they feel they are a
    part of the team
    o Look into the latest research on remote work culture, improvements you can make to
    integrate remote employees
    #GHC19
    

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31. On-call rotations
    Positive:
    o A huge burden being shared among the
    team improves sense of team unity,
    camaraderie
    o Engineers have a way to prove
    understanding of the technical systems,
    ability to handle crisis
    Negative:
    o Expecting the unexpected can be very
    difficult for
    those with serious anxiety disorders
    o Lack of sleep or
    interrupted sleep is bad for mental health
    o High stress leads to burnout
    #GHC19
    

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32. On-call rotations
    Solutions:
    o Fix tech issues to make being on-call less stressful
    o If someone is called in the middle of the night, make sure there is a process in place to
    give them adequate time to catch up on sleep
    o 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
    #GHC19
    

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33. Alcohol at tech events
    Positive:
    o One or two drinks can make it easier for
    some introverts and those with social
    anxiety to socialize with peers
    o If you don't offer alcohol, those who want
    to drink will go to a bar instead of staying
    to mingle with others at the event
    Negative:
    o Non-drinkers feel unwelcome
    o Recovering alcoholics feel threatened
    o Free alcohol and drinking culture are so
    pervasive that there are probably more
    functioning alcoholics in tech than we're
    aware of
    #GHC19
    

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34. Alcohol at tech events
    Solutions:
    o Offer nice alternatives (fancy sodas, mocktails) for non-drinkers to make them feel included
    o Put a limit on the number of free drinks (use tickets)
    o Have activities other than drinking (e.g. board games)
    o In a recurring series, try alternating dry/non-dry events
    o Add workplace wellness programs on substance abuse
    #GHC19
    

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35. Managers, tech leads and senior devs:
    Lead by example
    o Don't micro-manage
    o Leave the office on time
    o Take regular vacations
    o Don't send or answer e-mails at 2am if possible
    o Be receptive to feedback on your own performance
    o Be a good listener
    o Be open to talking about your health and mental health
    #GHC19
    

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36. Other action items for managers
    o Make sure employees understand their benefits and what mental health treatments are
    covered (e.g. therapy for just a $25 copay)
    o Revisit your hiring practices with an eye to mental illness and neurodiversity
    o Make sure employees feel valued and are on projects they find fulfilling and empowering
    o Get the OSMI handbooks (leanpub.com/u/osmi)
    o Consider offering the Mental Health First Aid training
    #GHC19
    

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37. Mental Health First Aid
    (mentalhealthfirstaid.org)
    o Teaches how to respond if you encounter someone having a mental health crisis
    o International program (started in Australia)
    o Available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands & more
    o 8-hour or 12-hour training course
    o Usually costs $50-100 per person with materials
    o Employers can host a training on-site
    #GHC19
    

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38. 4.
    #GHC19
    what must we
    do together?
    

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39. Support marginalized people in
    the tech industry
    o Chronic harassment, bullying, and micro-aggressions can lead to depression, exacerbate
    eating disorders, and cause or worsen other mental illnesses
    o Even in tech, women are still judged by their looks
    o 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
    #GHC19
    

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40. Fully embrace neurodiversity
    o Mental disorders like autism are the result of natural variations of the human genome
    o “People with these kinds of differences do not need to be cured; they need help and
    accommodation instead.”
    o Some of our greatest inventions are attributed to people with atypical neurology
    o “Mental illness gives me superpowers.” - Ed Finkler
    o “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” (Harvard Business Review)
    #GHC19
    

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41. Things we can only change as a culture
    o Working ourselves to death - the over-emphasis on hard work, stigma against vacation
    o The need to always be available by phone or email
    o The peer pressure caused by social media
    o The belief that you must be in Silicon Valley to succeed
    o The stigma against talking about our feelings
    o The idea that engineers don't have empathy
    #GHC19
    

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42. Empathy is the
    antidote to shame.
    - Andrea Goulet (@andreagoulet)
    #GHC19
    “
    

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43. “Empathy as a Service”
    #GHC19
    

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44. There is no app for this.
    #GHC19
    

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45. I could do so many
    awesome things if
    only my own head
    didn’t get in the way.
    - Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    #GHC19
    “
    

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46. Resources
    Want to help?
    o reach out. ask. listen. tell your friends
    you care.
    o osmihelp.org
    o mhprompt.org
    o if-me.org
    o mentalhealthfirstaid.org
    Need help?
    o talk to someone: a friend, relative,
    counselor, etc.
    o forums.osmihelp.org
    o locator.apa.org
    o suicidepreventionlifeline.org
    or 1-800-273-8255(TALK)
    o crisistextline.org
    or TEXT “START” TO 741741
    #GHC19
    

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47. Please remember to
    complete the session
    survey in the mobile
    app.
    THANK YOU
    #GHC19
    @xiehan
    @xiehan
    narakasbergen
    

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