How Jason Docton Used React and WoW to Help People’s Mental Health

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What is HTML All The Things

HTML All The Things is a web development podcast and discord community which was started by Matt and Mike, developers based in Ontario, Canada.

The podcast speaks to web development topics as well as running a small business, self-employment and time management. You can join them for both their successes and their struggles as they try to manage expanding their Web Development business without stretching themselves too thin.

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What's This One About?

In this episode Matt and Mike sit down with Jason Docton to discuss how his web development journey led him to help thousands of people with their mental health. Starting out in World of Warcraft, Jason helped fellow players find the help they needed with their mental health struggles. He started working alongside more people in-game, forming a guild of players willing to help. Fast forward to today, Jason is running RAD (Rise Above the Disorder) a website that has helped 38, 000 people in 133 countries so far.

Jason Docton's Twitter
RAD - Nonprofit covering the cost of mental health care for everyone
RAD - Github if you want to contribute and help
The Open Source Raid Guild

Show Notes

3:40 - What is your 'origin' story?
17:05 - Is it true you taught yourself to code to launch your non-profit site Rise Above the Disorder?
23:10 - How did you learn?
46:25 - Developers are known to overexert themselves, What are some signs of burnout?
57:00 - Passion projects vs work projects
1:04:00 - What can you do to mitigate/prevent burnout?
1:10:20 - When is the right time to reach out for help with mental health?

Key Takeaways

• Some people need professional mental health help
• Find the right people to learn from. The experts or first party sources in the technologies you're using
• The difference between a good developer and a great developer, is a great developer knows where to steal code from
• Big sign of burnout is when we start to find different ways to get away from what is causing us stress
• Create a boundary with work so you can disconnect
• When it feels like more days are struggling than not, that is the right time to reach out for help.

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