Aaron Swartz & A Culture of Denial: Depression & Suicide in Tech ...

Aaron Swartz, 26, an Internet developer and activist, committed suicide last week. The tech world has since been ablaze commenting and speculating on his life? and his death.

While many people point to the cause of his death connected to the overzealous prosecution by U.S. District Attorney Carmen Ortiz, it?s unlikely that a single thing led to his decision. If Aaron Swartz was like most of the 100 people every day who take their own lives in this country, the biggest thing that likely led to his death was untreated or under-treated depression.

Which comes as no surprise to people who knew him and have written about him. Nor after reading his own struggles with depression earlier in his life.

His passing is indeed a tragedy. But it?s time to realize that he lived and thrived in a technology sub-culture that mostly doesn?t understand ? or care much ? about mental illness.

While loved ones often search for answers after someone they know takes their own life, the answers are never very satisfying. In Aaron Swartz?s case, it appears that the jump to the cause and effect conclusion that his legal troubles led to his decision is overly simplistic. Young adults get into legal troubles all the time ? especially in certain disadvantaged parts of this country. The vast majority of them don?t take their own lives.

But we know that in most cases of suicide what is nearly always present is a history of clinical depression. And at the time the person has taken their life, it is depression that is either not being treated at all, or being treated inadequately. Swartz seemed to understand this, as he thought a great deal about depression, and linked to this description by George Scialabba:

Certainty that an acute episode [of depression] will last only a week, a month, even a year, would change everything. It would still be a ghastly ordeal, but the worst thing about it?the incessant yearning for death, the compulsion toward suicide?would drop away. But no, a limited depression, a depression with hope, is a contradiction. The experience of convulsive pain, along with the conviction that it will never end except in death?that is the definition of a severe depression.

Clinical depression ? like all mental disorders ? is exacerbated by stress. The more stress you have in your life, the worse the problem is usually going to get. Getting the book thrown at you by a federal prosecutor and facing the possibility of months (the last plea deal the U.S. Attorney was said to have offered was 6 months) or even years in jail is stressful. To a sensitive, brilliant person ? as Aaron Swartz was reported to have been ? it was probably beyond stressful.

Put those two together ? depression and a huge stressor ? and you have the recipe for a classic case of suicide.

And some people picked up on his down mood, as danah boyd said:

I knew he was struggling, but he was also a passionate activist and I genuinely thought that would see him through this dark period.

Which is a sentence we read time and time again from friends or family members after someone takes their own life. ?I knew he was struggling?? and yet? I thought he would be okay.

Silicon Valley is a Culture of Denial & High Stress

Not surprising, for people who are predisposed to depression, some work environments are not ideal. Wall Street, for example, is not a good place to work for a person with depression. Neither is Silicon Valley or really in any startup.

Startups, by definition, are high-pressure work environments, where a small group of people (usually young, white males) work 18- or 20-hour days to produce a product or service they believe will be The Next Big Thing (ala Facebook).

But because startups don?t live in a protected bubble, they?re going to suffer from the same human problems any company comprised of ordinary humans is going to suffer ? people with mental illness. After all, 1 in 10 people among us have one. Silicon Valley and tech startups are no different.

As investor Brad Feld notes,

?Many entrepreneurs don?t feel like they can talk openly about their depression, as they don?t want their investors, employees, or customers to know they are struggling with it,? he says. ?For anyone who has been depressed, not being able to be open about it with the people around you makes depression even harder to deal with.?

Startups think they are ?special? because they have some money and an idea. What they often don?t realize is that when it comes to the messy human things ? like emotions or health problems ? they are just like every one of us.

Fixing the Problem

Every tech startup, every VC firm, and indeed, every workplace has the power to help reduce future suicides. All they need do is to stop tolerating discrimination and prejudice against those who have a mental illness. If someone speaks up about their own depression or other mental illness, they should be met with the same open empathy you might give someone who was just diagnosed with cancer or diabetes. You make adjustments to help them make it through this period of their lives.

This sounds easy, but is harder than you might realize. Stigma still exists in many parts of our society, and often found among people who don?t think twice about health problems. There are still many ? too many ? who believe mental illness is a ?made up? problem and that people can just help themselves out of the problem if they only put their mind to it.

There is hope ? there is always hope. If anything good can come from a tragedy like this, perhaps it is helping others to better understand the vicious cycle of depression ? one that can ultimately lead to suicide for some.

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Remember Aaron Swartz

Activist Aaron Swartz?s suicide sparks talk about depression

Footnotes: Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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APA Reference
Grohol, J. (2013). Aaron Swartz & A Culture of Denial: Depression & Suicide in Tech. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 16, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/15/aaron-swartz-a-culture-of-denial-depression-suicide-in-tech/

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/15/aaron-swartz-a-culture-of-denial-depression-suicide-in-tech/

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[YES Network] - Yankees Baseball Tonight on Sabermetrics

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Source: http://sportspyder.com/teams/new-york-yankees/articles/8240237

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Pakistani forces fire in air at Islamabad protests

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces fired in the air and used tear gas in the capital Islamabad on Tuesday to try and control protests led by an anti-government cleric who is believed to be backed by the military.

Live television coverage showed forces firing in the air - a serious escalation in attempts to control crowds - while supporters of Sufi cleric Muhammad Tahirul Qadri hurled stones at them.

Qadri's spokesman told Reuters the crowds had prevented government forces from arresting the cleric. He said six supporters of the cleric were wounded.

Qadri's call has divided Pakistanis. Some hold him up as a champion of reform, others see him as a possible stooge of the powerful military, which has a history of coups and interfering in elections.

The populist cleric, who says elections scheduled for this spring should be delayed indefinitely until Pakistan's endemic corruption is rooted out, may not pose any immediate threat to the U.S.-backed civilian government.

But his calls for sweeping reforms have weakened the ruling Pakistan Peoples' Party, which has failed to tackle a staggering array of problems - from a Taliban insurgency to crippling power cuts to widespread poverty.

Few believe Pakistan's military has the appetite for another coup, especially since the Supreme Court has been standing up to the generals.

But the army would be happy to see figures like Qadri highlight the government's flaws, and perhaps play a behind-the-scenes role supporting him, analysts say. The military denies backing Qadri.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-forces-fire-air-islamabad-protests-033818042.html

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Japan Approves $116 Billion for Urgent Economic Stimulus

Japan Approves $116 Billion for Urgent Economic Stimulus

?We will put an end to this shrinking, and aim to build a stronger economy where earnings and incomes can grow,? Mr. Abe told a televised news conference. ?For that, the government must first take the initiative to create demand, and boost the entire economy.?

Under the plan, the Japanese government will spend about 10.3 trillion yen (about $116 billion) on public works and disaster mitigation projects, subsidies for companies that invest in new technology and financial aid to small businesses.

The government will seek to raise real economic growth by 2 percentage points and add 600,000 jobs to the economy, Mr. Abe said. The measures announced Friday amount to one of the largest spending plans in Japan?s history, he stressed.

This is kind of an amazing plan here, because either it works and the Japanese economy basically recovers or it doesn?t work and the government goes broke and inflation spirals out of control and serious long-term collapse ensues within like five years. There?s basically no middle ground, if this gets implemented. Huge respect for Japanese voters and politicians for willing to take a big risk like this.

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Source: http://jakke.tumblr.com/post/40372648946

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Cell phone is among the cider widely used type of communications ...

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AppSwitch, buscador de aplicaciones alternativas a iOS y Android en Windows 8

Escrito el d?a 11/01/2013

A estas alturas podemos encontrar much?simas aplicaciones para Windows 8 y en la AppStore, aplicaciones que resultan ser una buena alternativa a muchas de las descargas que existen hoy en d?a para iOS o Android.

AppSwitch es justamente un buscador de aplicaciones para Windows 8 que nos ofrecer? buenas alternativas para reemplazar (o a?adir a nuestra lista?) las herramientas que utilizamos en iOS y Android, mostrando buenas soluciones con las funciones espec?ficas que busquemos o similares a las de las aplicaciones que ya utilizamos. Nada m?s abrir AppSwitch se nos presentan las aplicaciones m?s recomendadas, recientes, populares y mejor puntuadas, y podremos obviamente realizar una b?squeda detallada en cada secci?n para ver las app disponibles en ella.

Lo especial acerca de AppSwitch es que cada aplicaci?n en las listas desplegadas aparecer? con su equivalente en iOS y Android al lado, como por ejemplo Flux con Flipboard o Google Reader. En la p?gina de las aplicaciones nos aparecer?n capturas de pantalla, cr?ticas y una descripci?n de sus funciones.

Usuarios de Windows 8, pod?is echarle un ojo en la Windows Store.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WwwhatsNew/~3/DfKqRbk-Ao8/story01.htm

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Google?s Schmidt Urges Open Web After North Korea Visit

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has used a controversial visit to the pariah state of North Korea to urge that country?s leadership to open up more to the Internet.

Eric Schmidt was part of a US delegation led by former New Mexico state governor Bill Richardson, that visited Pyongyang earlier this week.

Open Internet

The US delegation had used the trip to talk with the leadership of North Korea over a number of topics, including its long range missile launches as well as its nuclear testing, both of which have prompted sanctions from the United Nations.

The delegation, described as a ?private humanitarian mission?, also sought to obtain the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American held captive by North Korea.

?We enjoyed our trip to the DPRK, especially with the North Korean people, and we had a good opportunity to talk about expanding the internet and cell phones in the DPRK,? Richardson was reported as saying at Pyongyang airport.

?We strongly urged the North Koreans to proceed with a moratorium on ballistic missiles and a possible nuclear test, that it was important for this step to calm tensions in the peninsula,? Richardson, a former US ambassador to the UN, he later told journalists in China after returning from Pyongyang.

The delegation included Google?s chairman Eric Schmidt who, wearing his ?champion of the Internet? hat, urged his North Korean hosts to open up more to the Internet.

At the moment, North Korea is one of the least connected countries in the world, with the vast majority of the population not owning a computer. Even if North Korean citizens are able to get online, it is understood that they are only capable of accessing an internal North Korean intranet, and not the global Internet.

Eric Schmidt in North Korea?

?As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically,? Schmidt was quoted as saying by the BBC.

?Once the Internet starts, citizens in a country can certainly build on top of it,? he added. ?The government has to do something. It has to make it possible for people to use the internet which the government in North Korea has not yet done.?

Controversial Visit

The visit of the US delegation and Schmidt has proved to be controversial, especially in light of the recent actions undertaken by new leader Kim Jong Un, who took power a year ago.

Last month for example North Korea shot a satellite into space on a long-range rocket, a move that has potential long-reaching military implications in that region, and which prompted Japan to increase its military spending.

The State Department itself has reportedly criticised the trip by the delegation as ?unhelpful? and ill timed, as it comes amid US efforts to secure support for UN Security Council action.

Do you know Google?s secrets? To find out, take our quiz.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/eweekeurope/uk/~3/mJWIOKjMMnI/story01.htm

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