This is a guide for maintaining mental health as a programmer.

Maintaining mental health is important for every individual, no matter who you are or which profession you choose. Unfortunately, some people are at a higher risk of experiencing disorders compared to others. The data shows that men who work as software engineers have the highest rate of anxiety than people in other occupations (Ferguson & Sauer, 2016). Although there is no specific reason for why this happens, it’s believed that programmers experience so much pressure from the ever-changing technological environment.

Research in the Institute of Software Technologies in Stuttgart showed that unhappiness while developing software can cause stress and burnout. Many participants stated that they sometimes begin to question their overall ability to be good programmers.

The Stack Overflow 2018 survey shows that maintaining mental health is something most of software developer struggle with.

Although, the exact reason for the increase in the number of people suffering from mental illness is still unclear, some experts blame social media and technology. These are some effective solutions to prevent it: 

1. It can be hard to keep up with the imposter syndrome but you’re not alone.

Maintaining mental health is really hard if you doubt your abilities as a programmer. Imposter syndrome is a common problem in the programming field where you feel like you aren’t skilled enough to deal with the tasks that you are assigned with. Take feedback and advice to improve yourself, because no one learns it all in one day.

2. The goal is to prevent burnout and minimize any damage that has been done.

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. 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.Emotional health is foundational to physical and mental health.

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.

Do you want to know how to achieve better mental health as a programmer? Then look no further, because we have some tips just for you!