#132 | Ctrl+Alt+Depression

Theme : Mental health in Design

Have you ever noticed that Designer, Developer and Depression start with the same two letters? Coincidence?

All the ingredients for a good depression are intrinsic

to the tech world: Perfectionism, Comparison, Performance at all costs.

Simmer in a society where we have to please all the time, where no

matter what we do we are never enough... BANG, BANG and BANG!

My name is Manon, I am a designer and I went through a major depression. I was off work for 11 months.

While burnout is becoming acceptable, depression is

still not. Burnout is the badge of honour of the ambitious, while

depression is still synonymous with weakness.

You should be ashamed of being depressed.



I want to say Fuck the shame.

I want to lift the veil on a reality that too many live

hidden. Often isolated, the return to "normal" life is a path full of

pitfalls that I would compare more to a rollercoaster than a cruise in

my bed.

Between toxic positivism and the cult of "hustle", how to get out of it?



Under the pretext that design is a profession-passion, should we put up

with everything? Can we have a healthy relationship with our work?



What if healing is loving yourself?

With humour and love, I will speak frankly about

loneliness and suicidal thoughts but also about acceptance, questioning,

discoveries and hope at the end of the tunnel. I want to share with you

the learnings and behaviors I've learned to navigate the discomfort and

the little things that make my life better now.

Talking about depression is about what makes us human without judgment.



That's where the work begins.



Let's question everything, together.

If you can't make it, the event will be available on Youtube afterwards.

#mentalhealth #depression #burnout #healing #selfcompassion