Announcing HackMentalHealth — Silicon Valley’s Mental Health Hackathon

In the upcoming century, mental health is one of the biggest challenges our nation faces. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

• 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness in a given year.
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. for people aged 15–24.
• 46% of homeless adults live with severe mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders.

Coming Together

There are talented, inspiring mental health practitioners tackling mental health issues on the front lines. There are brilliant minds in the technology field who are eager to make a real impact in improving the health of millions of Americans. There are survivors and friends of loved ones who have suffered from mental health illnesses. Everyone has an important role in this conversation.

Let’s come together and innovate mental health.

The Event

Taking place over February 3–4, 2018, HackMentalHealth will be holding a 24-hour event focused on hands-on learning and partnership with the mental health space, including academia, industry, and entrepreneurship.

Our judges include leaders from a diverse set of disciplines:

• DAVE MORIN, Founder and Partner Slow Ventures and Founder at Sunrise
• Liz Beaven, Provost of California Institute Of Integral Studies
• Seth Rosenberg, Investor at Greylock Partners
• Courtney Brown, SF Suicide Hotline Director
• Nicollette Maristela, Communications Specialist at Mental Health Association of SF

We are also joined by some of the leading companies and organizations dedicated to improving our nation’s state of mental health:

• Tech: TokBox, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Wellness, Greylock Partners, DevRelate.io
• Mental Health: SF Suicide Prevention, Big Health, Lantern, WELL, Prompt, Campfire, Orchid, Mental Health Association of SF
• Academic: California Institute of Integral Studies
• Individual: Jessica Livingston, Founding Partner of Y Combinator
• Food & Beverage: hint water, Kasa Indian Eatery, Soylent, Guayakí
• note: full sponsor list available at our site

This Isn’t Your Average Hackathon

Most hackathons require participants to be coders and chug Red Bull all night in order to participate. Since we believe in the importance of mental health, we’re making sure this hackathon is different:

• We’ll enact a “code freeze” to encourage participants to get sleep.
• Instead of Red Bull, we’re partnering with health-conscious companies like Hint Water and Soylent.
• Our activities include yoga workshops, expressive art therapy, and even an acupuncture session!

We hope that HackMentalHealth can shift the direction of hackathons to be more health-conscious and less detrimental to participants’ well-being.

How Do I Join?

This hackathon is open to all disciplines and backgrounds. You can read more at our website, http://www.hackmentalhealth.care, and sign up to participate at our Eventbrite Sign Up Page.

If you’d like to get more involved, you can:

• Like our Facebook Page.
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Apply to join our Facebook Group for participants.
• If you’re interested in helping make this event a success, feel free to shoot us a DM on Twitter.
• Clap this article on Medium so others can view it.