How A Programmer Deals With Depression

It is (or was) World Mental Health Day. For many people, this will be a day to see mental health as a problem 'over there' that does not and will never affect them. I used to be one of those people who saw it this way. I always appreciated the seriousness of the issue but never imagined it affecting me. How can it? If it's something in my head then it can't really affect me. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, most of all when focusing on the errors in the past. If I wrote about all my mistakes in my blog then it wouldn't have months long gaps. No, this is about where I was in August, and where I am now in October.

Depression and Gamification

This isn't an easy topic. In fact, it's the hardest thing to think about let alone talk about. The very concept of depression is downright frightening if you consider yourself strong willed and stable. The reason why it's scary is it doesn't care about your strengths at all. It will tear all your defences down in seconds and leave you to cope with your darkest thoughts with a wall to climb each time you want to feel like yourself again. It is completely apathetic to what you want and can arrive at the very worst of times. It knows your every weakness including the ones you ignore.