Given the headline, there are some points not raised, which I'd love the poster to cover.
A) income. A chunk of mental health comes from the security of a steady income stream. To what degree does the poster have this?
B) environment? Another chunk of mental health comes from interacting with others. Ideally in person, but online is also good. Human contact, meet ups, conferences, are all good ways to feel connected and appreciated.
C) Content? Do you feel like you're doing enough? Do you feel like your projects are meaningful? Are you content with the users you have? My own mental health benefited from becoming content with my place, my work, my reach. I measure my reach in hundreds not millions, and for me that's OK.
Mental health is important, Open Source or not. But the above 3 factors seem to me to be the big hurdles for those in that space particularly.
Regarding A, one point I've seen raised about open source, specially the idea about checking someone's github activity as part of a hiring process, is that making open source contributions, or more specifically, contributing for free, is a privilege the poor can not afford.
It's ironic, but exactly the people who benefit from free software wouldn't spend their time making free software because they need money to eat.
A) income. A chunk of mental health comes from the security of a steady income stream. To what degree does the poster have this?
B) environment? Another chunk of mental health comes from interacting with others. Ideally in person, but online is also good. Human contact, meet ups, conferences, are all good ways to feel connected and appreciated.
C) Content? Do you feel like you're doing enough? Do you feel like your projects are meaningful? Are you content with the users you have? My own mental health benefited from becoming content with my place, my work, my reach. I measure my reach in hundreds not millions, and for me that's OK.
Mental health is important, Open Source or not. But the above 3 factors seem to me to be the big hurdles for those in that space particularly.