Schalk Venter PRO
🔧 Front-end Development / 🎨 UI Design / 🌍 Social Good / ❤️ Destigmatising mental illness
Being Human
Mental Illness and Vurnerability in Tech
The Speaker
Who the heck is this guy even?
The Vurnerability
Setting the stage for the discussion
The Stigma
The cost of shame
The Tech Industry
Mental health of those in tech industry
The Discussion
Making space for honest conversation
👤
🐸
👹
🤖
👂
The Speaker
Who the heck is this guy even?
The Vurnerability
Setting the stage for the discussion
The Stigma
The cost of shame
The Tech Industry
Mental health of those in tech industry
The Discussion
Making space for honest conversation
👤
🐸
👹
🤖
👂
The Speaker
Who the heck is this guy even?
The Vurnerability
Setting the stage for the discussion
The Stigma
The cost of shame
The Tech Industry
Mental health of those in tech industry
The Discussion
Making space for honest conversation
👤
🐸
👹
🤖
👂
The Speaker
Who the heck is this guy even?
The Vurnerability
Setting the stage for the discussion
The Stigma
The cost of shame
The Tech Industry
Mental health of those in tech industry
The Discussion
Making space for honest conversation
👤
🐸
👹
🤖
👂
The Speaker
Who the heck is this guy even?
The Vurnerability
Setting the stage for the discussion
The Stigma
The cost of shame
The Tech Industry
Mental health of those in tech industry
The Discussion
Making space for honest conversation
👤
🐸
👹
🤖
👂
The Disclaimers
The Disclaimers
The Disclaimers
The Disclaimers
The Disclaimers
The Disclaimers
About Me
Who the heck is this guy?
👤
2006 - 2010
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Community Involvement
ZA Tech
15 400+ Members
ZA Product Design
1 300+ Members
FEDSA
4 200+ Members
👤
Teaching and Training
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Open Source
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Contract Work
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Get in Touch
Website: https://schalkventer.me
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/schalkventer
Github: https://github.com/schalkventer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/schalkventerdev
Instagram: https://instagram.com/schalkventerdev
Medium: https://medium.com/@schalkventer
Behance: https://www.behance.net/schalkventer
👦
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My Life Outside Work
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Mental Health
👤
The Advice
🐸
The Advice
🐸
The Advice
🐸
Eating the Dog Food
🐸
"Eating your own dog food or “dogfooding” is the practice of using one's own products or services. [...] he remembers is from the president of Kal Kan Pet Food, who was said to eat a can of his dog food at shareholders' meetings [...] argued that the phrase "dogfooding" was unappealing and should be replaced by "icecreaming""
Eating the Dog Food
🐸
"Eating your own dog food or “dogfooding” is the practice of using one's own products or services. [...] he remembers is from the president of Kal Kan Pet Food, who was said to eat a can of his dog food at shareholders' meetings [...] argued that the phrase "dogfooding" was unappealing and should be replaced by "icecreaming""
Eating the Dog Food
🐸
"Eating your own dog food or “dogfooding” is the practice of using one's own products or services. [...] he remembers is from the president of Kal Kan Pet Food, who was said to eat a can of his dog food at shareholders' meetings [...] argued that the phrase "dogfooding" was unappealing and should be replaced by "icecreaming""
Eating the Dog Food
"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day."
Mark Twain
🐸
Eating the Dog Food
"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day."
Mark Twain
🐸
Eating the Dog Food
😥
🐸
Inner Archeology
2014
2014
2014
🐸
Inner Archeology
2014
2014
🐸
Inner Archeology
2014
🐸
Inner Archeology
2014
🐸
"However, I'd like to let you know that I've started developing the same types of thoughts regarding my facial features/structure in January this year (for the first time at the age of 27) . I woke up one morning and realised that my smile is skew (the one corner of my mouth doesn't lift up when I smile)..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"However, I'd like to let you know that I've started developing the same types of thoughts regarding my facial features/structure in January this year (for the first time at the age of 27) . I woke up one morning and realised that my smile is skew (the one corner of my mouth doesn't lift up when I smile)..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"However, I'd like to let you know that I've started developing the same types of thoughts regarding my facial features/structure in January this year (for the first time at the age of 27) . I woke up one morning and realised that my smile is skew (the one corner of my mouth doesn't lift up when I smile)..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"However, I'd like to let you know that I've started developing the same types of thoughts regarding my facial features/structure in January this year (for the first time at the age of 27) . I woke up one morning and realised that my smile is skew (the one corner of my mouth doesn't lift up when I smile)..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"However, I'd like to let you know that I've started developing the same types of thoughts regarding my facial features/structure in January this year (for the first time at the age of 27) . I woke up one morning and realised that my smile is skew (the one corner of my mouth doesn't lift up when I smile)..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...I fell into a episode of suicidal depression - not being able to sleep/eat and being convinced that people get uncomfortable in my presence due to my distorted face. I went to a plastic surgeon and he mentioned that although I (strictly speaking) have a skew smile, it's still within the parameter of a 'normal' face, and if I had to talk to him without pointing it out he wouldn't even have noticed it..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...However, I kept on obsessing about it. And soon developed additional reason why my face looks strange and makes people uncomfortable (from my teeth being yellow, my features being asymmetrical, etc). I started going to a psychologist, in the hopes that he'll be able to help me either (1) see these thoughts as distortions/delusions or (2) help me accept myself/make peace with it should they be 100% true..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"... I only just started going, so I'm unable to say whether I'm actually making progress. But according to my psychologist, it's quite common for people with pre-existing social anxiety and an inclination towards low self worth to develop crippling obsessions about their appearance. I don't know the extent to which this is applicable to you..."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...But I think merely making the jump from 'I'm unattractive" to "I want to kill myself" is indicative of something deeper that needs to be addressed by a mental health professional."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...But I think merely making the jump from 'I'm unattractive" to "I want to kill myself" is indicative of something deeper that needs to be addressed by a mental health professional."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
"...But I think merely making the jump from 'I'm unattractive" to "I want to kill myself" is indicative of something deeper that needs to be addressed by a mental health professional."
The Frog
u/broodjies
08:19AM , 28 April 2014
🐸
Why?
Since 2014
Since 2017
👹
👹
👹
👹
👹
👹
Aaron Swartz
👹
The Cost of Shame
"I have a lot of illnesses. I don’t talk about it much, for a variety of reasons. I feel ashamed to have an illness. It sounds absurd, but there still is an enormous stigma around being sick."
👹
The Cost of Shame
"I have a lot of illnesses. I don’t talk about it much, for a variety of reasons. I feel ashamed to have an illness. It sounds absurd, but there still is an enormous stigma around being sick."
👹
The Cost of Shame
"I have a lot of illnesses. I don’t talk about it much, for a variety of reasons. I feel ashamed to have an illness. It sounds absurd, but there still is an enormous stigma around being sick."
👹
The Cost of Shame
"I have a lot of illnesses. I don’t talk about it much, for a variety of reasons. I feel ashamed to have an illness. It sounds absurd, but there still is an enormous stigma around being sick."
👹
The Cost of Shame
"I have a lot of illnesses. I don’t talk about it much, for a variety of reasons. I feel ashamed to have an illness. It sounds absurd, but there still is an enormous stigma around being sick."
👹
Talking About Shame
"A lot people are blaming the US Attorney for Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Their outrage is justified, but Aaron struggled with depression for many years prior to the case. If we focus only on the US Attorney, we miss an opportunity to help thousands of developers struggling with the same problem."
👹
Talking About Shame
"A lot people are blaming the US Attorney for Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Their outrage is justified, but Aaron struggled with depression for many years prior to the case. If we focus only on the US Attorney, we miss an opportunity to help thousands of developers struggling with the same problem."
👹
Talking About Shame
"A lot people are blaming the US Attorney for Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Their outrage is justified, but Aaron struggled with depression for many years prior to the case. If we focus only on the US Attorney, we miss an opportunity to help thousands of developers struggling with the same problem."
👹
Talking About Shame
"A lot people are blaming the US Attorney for Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Their outrage is justified, but Aaron struggled with depression for many years prior to the case. If we focus only on the US Attorney, we miss an opportunity to help thousands of developers struggling with the same problem."
👹
Talking About Shame
"A lot people are blaming the US Attorney for Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Their outrage is justified, but Aaron struggled with depression for many years prior to the case. If we focus only on the US Attorney, we miss an opportunity to help thousands of developers struggling with the same problem."
👹
Invisible World
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts."
👹
Invisible World
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts."
👹
Invisible World
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts."
👹
Invisible World
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts."
👹
Initial Response
👹
Open Sourcing Mental Health
Mental Health in Tech Survey (2020)
Wider Patterns
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The Work
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"Depressed people cannot lead a revolution because depressed people can barely manage to get out of bed and put on their shoes and socks."
👹
The Work
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon (1995)
"Depressed people cannot lead a revolution because depressed people can barely manage to get out of bed and put on their shoes and socks."
👹
What do we do?
🤖
🤖
Human Resources
🤖
Gregory Benford
Shipstar (2014)
"Remember that
people break down too,
not just machinery"
Commonalities
🤖
Gregory Benford
Shipstar (2014)
"Remember that
people break down too,
not just machinery"
Commonalities
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
Yikes!
The Verge
How tech companies are ignoring the pandemic’s mental health crisis (2021)
"The one-question survey had a simple "yes or no" query: "Are you currently suffering from job burnout?" Of the 11,487 users who responded, over half of respondents (57.16%, to be precise) replied "yes." Frankly, it's a mindblowing statistic"
🤖
🤖
Widen the Conversation
Wikipedia
"A growing body of evidence suggests that burnout is etiologically, clinically, and nosologically similar to depression. In a study that directly compared depressive symptoms in burned out workers and clinically depressed patients, no diagnostically significant differences were found between the two groups; burned out workers reported as many depressive symptoms as clinically depressed patients."
🤖
Widen the Conversation
Wikipedia
"A growing body of evidence suggests that burnout is etiologically, clinically, and nosologically similar to depression. In a study that directly compared depressive symptoms in burned out workers and clinically depressed patients, no diagnostically significant differences were found between the two groups; burned out workers reported as many depressive symptoms as clinically depressed patients."
🤖
Widen the Conversation
Wikipedia
"A growing body of evidence suggests that burnout is etiologically, clinically, and nosologically similar to depression. In a study that directly compared depressive symptoms in burned out workers and clinically depressed patients, no diagnostically significant differences were found between the two groups; burned out workers reported as many depressive symptoms as clinically depressed patients."
🤖
Sadag.org
👂
OsmiHelp.org
👂
Therapist-Directory.co.za
👂
Student Internships
👂
CrisisTextLine.org
👂
7cups.org
👂
MentalPod.com
👂
#mental-health
👂
zatech.co.za
slides.com/schalkventer
👂
mhit.org.za
👂
mhit.org.za
👂
Being Human
By Schalk Venter
Being Human
Mental Illness and Vurnerability in Tech
