Announcing Geek Mental Help Week 2016
Here’s the skinny. Geek Mental Help Week is happening again during the week of October 3rd 2016 and I think that it’s going to be the best one yet.
I’ve been having a pretty difficult time since last time. To be honest, if it wasn’t for some dear, dear friends (and the Samaritans) I might not be here today, so this year Geek Mental Help Week means even more.
I want the week to make a positive impact on as many people as possible, so this year I’m joined by Mike Bell, Gem Hill and Richard Wiggins who are all generously giving their time to support Geek Mental Help Week.
As usual Geek Mental Help Week will include articles and blog entries, podcasts, and events discussing mental health issues for those of us who work on the web.
Our website’s again hosted on Github. That means that if you’d like to write about your experiences, submit a pull request with your title, a summary and a link to your website or Medium and it will be added to the Geek Mental Help Week website.
This year we’re also hoping to have a specially commissioned article about an aspect of mental heath published on the website everyday. I’ll be kicking things off by writing about depersonalisation disorder. Oh, and Don Draper. Please get in touch if you’ve an idea for something you’d like to write.
If you host a podcast, please record an episode about mental health issues to go out that week, send us a link or submit a pull request. I’ll be making an episode of Unfinished Business for that week and I would love it if you’d do the same.
And, of course, there are events. In the UK we can look forward to another Milton Keynes Geek Night mental health event and up in Manchester, Gem Hill and Mike Bell are hosting MCR Geek Mental Help night, “An evening of discussion and talks around mental health in tech/geek spaces and culture.’ If you’re interested in giving talk, facilitating a discussion or similar, drop Gem a line at gemma.hill1987@gmail.com.
So that’s the Geek Mental Help Week news so far, but expect more to come over the next month. Geek Mental Help Week means a lot to me, but it isn’t about me, it’s about helping others. I want you you to be involved in any way you want to, either by helping with the website, writing about your experiences, hosting a podcast or turning up to an event. Let’s make this one a really good year.