[IPC] 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)
   International PHP Conference
   #IntPHPcon
   December 8, 2020
   

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2. 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
   

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3. 1.
   WHAT EVEN
   ARE WE TALKING
   ABOUT?
   

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4. 1 in 5
   adults living with mental illness at any given time
   Source:
   International
   Journal of
   Epidemiology
   

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5. 1 in 10
   Europeans living with diabetes
   Source: WHO
   

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6. 1 in 14
   children and adults under 45 living with asthma in Europe
   Source: European
   Respiratory
   Society
   

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7. 1 in 4
   Europeans living with arthritis
   Source: EULAR
   

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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. A VERY INCOMPLETE LIST OF
   MENTAL ILLNESSES
   Depression
   Generalized anxiety
   disorder
   Bipolar disorder
   Substance use disorder
   (alcoholism)
   Eating disorder (bulimia)
   Schizophrenia
   PTSD
   Obsessive-compulsive
   disorder (OCD)
   Impulse control disorder
   Antisocial personality disorder
   Dissociative identity disorder
   ADHD*
   Autism spectrum disorders*
   Burnout**
   

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10. depression is at least
    13x more prevalent
    than schizophrenia
    

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11. SYMPTOMS OF MAJOR DEPRESSION
    ▸ Feelings of sadness, 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. 8.4%
    increase in clinically significant levels of mental distress
    among households in the UK as a result of the pandemic
    Source: The
    Lancet
    

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17. percentage of adults who reported stress, anxiety, or
    great sadness since the COVID-19 outbreak started
    Source: Statista
    

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18. percentage of workers reporting mental health status in
    the year before COVID-19 and in March and April 2020
    Source: Statista
    

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19. 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/contracts
    ▸ 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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20. “Leave your personal
    life at home when you
    come to work.”
    

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21. 2.
    WHY I SPEAK
    UP ABOUT THIS
    

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22. I’m a tech lead.
    

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23. I’m a tech lead.
    I identify as mentally
    healthy.
    

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

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25. Ed Finkler (@funkatron)
    OPEN
    SOURCING
    MENTAL
    ILLNESS
    (osmihelp.org)
    

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26. Source: OSMI
    

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27. “
    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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28. 3.
    WHAT CAN
    WE DO?
    

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29. COMMON 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 work hours
    ▸ Someone needs to fix things when they break overnight
    ▸ There is a heavy emphasis on drinking culture
    

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30. RELOCATION
    

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

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32. RELOCATION
    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!
    Positive:
    ▸ Much easier to feel a
    part of the team and
    helping toward the
    mission if you're on-site
    ▸ Can bring you closer to a
    community of
    practitioners in your
    field than where you
    currently are
    

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33. 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
    ▸ Many companies have become more accepting of
    remote work due to the pandemic; you do not
    want to get left behind
    

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34. REMOTE WORK
    

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35. REMOTE WORK
    Positive:
    ▸ Flexible hours
    ▸ Easier to attend daytime
    therapy appointments
    ▸ Easier to stick to
    medication regimens
    ▸ Easier to take breaks
    ▸ Quiet & peaceful *
    

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36. REMOTE WORK
    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 challenging to
    maintain work-life balance
    Positive:
    ▸ Flexible hours
    ▸ Easier to attend daytime
    therapy appointments
    ▸ Easier to stick to
    medication regimens
    ▸ Easier to take breaks
    ▸ Quiet & peaceful *
    

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37. REMOTE WORK
    Solutions:
    ▸ Make funds available for employees to join a co-
    working space (or encourage colleagues to do so)
    ▸ Fly in remote employees or hold company-wide
    off-sites 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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38. ON-CALL ROTATIONS
    

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39. ON-CALL ROTATIONS
    Positive:
    ▸ A huge burden being
    shared among the team
    improves sense of team
    unity, camaraderie
    ▸ Engineers have a way to
    prove understanding of
    the technical systems,
    ability to handle crisis
    

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40. ON-CALL ROTATIONS
    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 leads to burnout
    Positive:
    ▸ A huge burden being
    shared among the team
    improves sense of team
    unity, camaraderie
    ▸ Engineers have a way to
    prove understanding of
    the technical systems,
    ability to handle crisis
    

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41. 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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42. ALCOHOL AT TECH EVENTS
    

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43. 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
    ▸ 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
    

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44. ALCOHOL AT TECH EVENTS
    Negative:
    ▸ Non-drinkers feel
    unwelcome
    ▸ Recovering alcoholics feel
    threatened
    ▸ Free alcohol and drinking
    culture are so pervasive that
    there are probably more
    functioning alcoholics in
    tech than we're aware of
    Positive:
    ▸ One or two drinks can
    make it easier for some
    introverts and those
    with social anxiety to
    socialize with peers
    ▸ 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
    

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45. 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)
    ▸ Have activities other than drinking (e.g. board games)
    ▸ In a recurring series, try alternating dry/non-dry events
    ▸ Add workplace wellness programs on substance abuse
    

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46. MENTAL HEALTH IN A PANDEMIC
    ▸ Keep to a routine
    ▸ Make sure you're getting fresh air & exercise
    ▸ Reconnect with old friends and family
    ▸ Talk about your feelings
    ▸ Take self-care seriously
    ▸ Know the warning signs of burnout
    ▸ Proactively talk to your manager if you're struggling
    

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47. WARNING SIGNS OF BURNOUT
    ▸ Becoming increasingly cynical or critical at work
    ▸ Lacking the energy to consistently be productive
    ▸ Finding it hard to concentrate
    ▸ Being irritable or impatient with co-workers or clients
    ▸ Feeling disillusioned about your job
    ▸ Having trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
    ▸ Using food, drugs, or alcohol to feel better
    Source: Mayo Clinic
    

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48. MASLACH'S 6 CAUSES OF BURNOUT
    ▸ Lack of control
    ▸ Insufficient reward
    ▸ Lack of community
    ▸ Absence of fairness
    ▸ Conflict in values
    ▸ Work overload
    Source: J Health
    Hum Serv Adm
    

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49. MANAGERS, TECH LEADS AND
    SENIOR DEVS: LEAD BY EXAMPLE
    ▸ Don't micro-manage
    ▸ End your work day 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 health and mental health
    

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50. OTHER ACTION ITEMS FOR
    MANAGERS
    ▸ Make sure employees understand their rights,
    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 the Mental Health First Aid training
    

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51. MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
    (mhfainternational.org)
    ▸ Teaches how to respond if you encounter someone
    having a mental health crisis
    ▸ International program (started in Australia)
    ▹ Available in the US, Canada, UK, Germany,
    Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands & more
    ▸ 8-hour or 12-hour training course
    ▸ Employers can host a training on-site
    

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52. 4.
    WHAT MUST WE
    DO TOGETHER?
    

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53. SUPPORT MARGINALIZED PEOPLE
    IN THE TECH INDUSTRY
    ▸ Chronic harassment, bullying, and micro-
    aggressions can lead to depression, exacerbate
    eating disorders, and cause or worsen other
    mental illnesses
    ▸ Even in tech, women are still judged by their looks
    ▸ 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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54. THINGS WE CAN ONLY CHANGE
    AS A CULTURE
    ▸ Working ourselves to death - the over-emphasis
    on hard work, and stigma against vacation
    ▸ The need to always be available by phone or email
    ▸ The peer pressure caused by social media
    ▸ The stigma against talking about our feelings
    ▸ The idea that engineers don't have empathy
    

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55. “
    Empathy is the
    antidote to shame.
    - Andrea Goulet (@andreagoulet)
    

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56. "EMPATHY AS A SERVICE"
    

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57. THERE IS NO APP FOR THIS
    

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58. “
    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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59. RESOURCES
    Want to help?
    ▸ reach out. ask.
    listen. tell your
    friends you care.
    ▸ osmihelp.org
    ▸ mhprompt.org
    ▸ if-me.org
    ▸ mhfainternational
    .org
    Need help?
    ▸ talk to someone: a friend,
    relative, counselor, etc.
    ▸ forums.osmihelp.org
    ▸ 112 (EU)
    ▸ telefonseelsorge.de or
    0800.1110111 (DE) or 142 (AT)
    

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

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