Here's my take on it, for what it's worth: 1) Getting mental health care (in the US) is difficult. There is still a social stigma, to be sure, but the bigger

Here's my take on it, for what it's worth: 1) Getting mental health care (in the US) is difficult. There is still a social stigma, to be sure, but the bigger problem is that it's just hard to find it. I mentioned before that during a bout of depression, I called several psychiatrists' offices and left messages, and none of them even called me back to reject me, much less help me find care elsewhere. When you're already depressed, overcoming hurdles like this is the last thing you need. 2) Programming is isolating, and we many of us do it when we should be developing core social skills. I don't know about the rest of HN, but I got my first computer when I was eight years old (Commodore VIC-20). I became obsessed with computers, and spent an inordinate amount of my life with them. Sure, I had friends, but I don't think I spent as much time developing deep relationships and shared experiences as I should have. I went straight into college, with the goal of getting done as soon as possible in order to start working with computers. Around the age of 30, I realized I'd spent my career either sitting behind a computer alone, or dealing with fairly antagonistic personalities in meetings. Personally, I'm a big fan of the gap year concept. Getting out, traveling, seeing how life happens in other parts of the world, and simply interacting with people outside of tech was a big eye-opener for me. I can't recommend strongly enough that, if you're around 20 and notice that you spend a lot of time with computers, and maybe aren't totally satisfied with your social life and set of life experiences, that you immediately consider going abroad for a year or two. Teach English. Join the Peace Corps. You will almost certainly learn valuable social skills that you don't even know you're missing.