Next week is Geek Mental Help Week
Next week, starting October 27th, is Geek Mental Help Week:
A week-long series of articles, blog posts, conversations, podcasts and events across the web about mental health issues, how to help people who suffer, and those who care for us.
Heydon Pickering did a great job and the Geek Mental Help Week website is already taking pull requests for links to conversations. If you don’t want to do, or don’t know how to submit a pull request, tweet to @geekmentalhelp and share with the #geekmentalhelp hashtag.
We’ll be updating the site a few times a day next week. Whether you suffer from, you’re affected, or you support someone who suffers from mental health issues, please share your experiences.
Events
Richard and David are hosting MK Geek Night Mental Help Night in Milton Keynes on Tuesday October 28th. They have some wonderful people who are contributing their time to speak and share:
- Adam Onishi on “There is no such thing as work-life balance.”
- Sandra Dartnell on “Digital Spaghetti”
- Gavin Elliott on “Invisible Challenges”
- Cole Henley on “Coping with depression—experiences and strategies”
And Dr. Clare Symons who will also be joining me on-stage at The Web Is… along with Cole, Relly and Chris.
Tickets for MK Geek Night Mental Help Night and The Web Is… are available now.
Podcasts
I’ve heard from several podcast hosts that they will be talking about mental health issues during Geek Mental Help Week.
On Monday’s Unfinished Business I’ll be talking with Liz whose idea first sparked Geek Mental Help Week. On Friday’s The Freelance Web Liz will be talking with Relly Annett-Baker. Between then, expect mental health conversations on:
Articles
Next week A List Apart, The Pastry Box and Smashing Magazine, are all running mental health related articles. We’ve already linked to some wonderful articles where people have shared their personal experiences.
- “Mental Health in an Online Industry” by Amber Weinberg
- “Should I Get Checked” by Sebastian Green
- “Baby Steps” by Petra Gregorová
- “Mind” by Luke Jones
- “Self Harm: More than just attention” by Phil Stringfellow
- “Employment, Bipolar and the Hell I suffered” by monkehfu
I’ve been overwhelmed by people’s interest and offers of support. I hope that during next week will see and hear people speaking, writing and above all sharing their experiences so that we can help each other. Please submit a pull request, tweet to @geekmentalhelp and above all share with the #geekmentalhelp hashtag. Let’s keep this conversation going.