Tips for Maintaining Mental Health as a Programmer

Last Updated : 24 Jun, 2023

Reports say that a large number of software developers are facing depression and mental disorders. According to the International Journal of Humanities Social Science Invention, software developers have significantly the highest rate of anxiety in comparison to their colleagues who are performing mechanical or other tasks. The prominent section, which reported the highest anxiety, is unmarried males in the age group of 25 to 28 years, and the probable reasons found through the discussion are: they are hypothetical to learn newer technology along with their daily job work that eventually puts a lot of burdens.

Participants of research in the Institute of Software Technologies in Stuttgart reported that unhappiness while developing software is a cause of stress and burnout. Many participants stated that they sometimes begin to question their overall ability to be good programmers.

The Stack Overflow 2018 survey:

According to the survey, mental health issues like depression and anxiety are common among the developers. In the US almost 20% of participants said that they deal with either or both.

The Stack Overflow 2020 survey:

According to the survey, around 1 in 5 respondents were living with mental health or other difference. Anxiety and mood disorders are common among developers. Also, 2.3% have autism or are on the autism spectrum.

Today most tech companies are realizing the importance of mental health and taking preventive measures to create a peaceful work environment. They are taking action to ensure their employees and stay healthy. Despite this, you should take care of your mental state as an individual.

So here are some common reasons for mental illness and tips to overcome them:

1. Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome is a kind of feeling where you doubt your skills or knowledge and think that you aren’t enough capable or skillful for the particular job. When a programmer doubts his programming skills and considers himself inferior in front of every second programmer – it subsequently affects his mental health.

Tip: Don’t think of yourself as an imposter. Every developer, your senior leader, or even your boss was once a novice. They know that you will not know everything when you start your new job rather you have the ability to learn. Maintain good relations with your colleagues, manager and take feedback, advice to improve yourself. Try to improve your knowledge and learn new skills.

2. Burnout Condition

It is a situation when programmers eventually start losing their interest and passion in programming and feel tired & ineffective particularly while doing their daily programming tasks. It can be happened due to many reasons such as monotonous work, substandard work culture, no work recognition, unrealistic deadlines, etc. This situation can lead to serious mental issues if not recognized and treated properly priorly.

Tip: Do not just code instead do other things as well that you like. Also, take regular breaks throughout the day and do exercise regularly. Other than that, learn new tools and technologies relevant to your profile to stay updated and motivated.

3. Personal Life

Everybody has some personal issue maybe some family issue, maybe you feel some kind of loneliness, or maybe you have some kind of previous memory you want to get rid of or some other cases. And such instances often affect your professional life as a programmer, and you face several problems in your work-life such as poor productivity & efficiency, mental fatigue, etc.

Tips: Firstly, try to never merge your personal and professional life. Meanwhile, whenever you have some kind of personal issue talk about it with your close friend, family members so that you can control this kind of stuff.

Some of the general tips that can help you to maintain mental health as a programmer are listed below: