This little project is quickly growing into a pretty big movement, the response at and after Linux.conf.au in Hobart was tremendous! Ah sorry, should tell what this is all about eh!

Well, many among us have dealt with or are struggling with depression and related hassles. It’s not because we’re geeks, but because we’re all human. However, in our line of work we may have particular non-optimal work environments: working inside, lack of movement, lack of daylight. Also many companies are pretty high stress through understaffing, short deadlines, ad-hoc management and the like.

Also, one of the key issues with depression is the feeling of being alone, and it’s not something that commonly gets talked about. That of course doesn’t help people cope and recover.

While there are many excellent sites and organisations that provide help, BlueHackers acts as a resource hub with particular information (and links to others), and also creating stuff that helps spread awareness and reduce the feeling of being alone in dealing with these matters. One such initiative is little stickers with the BlueHackers logo, that can be placed on a laptop. Anybody can put on that sticker, which just quietly shows support and understanding. Think of it as one of those coloured ribbons (showing support for HIV/AIDS victims, servicemen overseas, opposing software patents, and so on) – but we’ve seriously run out of possible colours, and the logo is very distinct so it works well this way.

Check out the site! Spread the word! And there’ll be more stickers and other activities coming.