FiF Forum 2025: "Mental illness – ways out of the crisis. An information event for people affected and interested parties.

on 26 June | Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal of TU Darmstadt | 10:00 to 14:00

With lecture by Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Thomas Fuchs on the topic “Fast, faster, too fast. Overstraining, burnout, and depression”.

In addition to the lecture by Mr. Fuchs, the event will include a subsequent panel discussion and an exhibition of TU offers on the topic. The target group are all status groups at TU Darmstadt from science, administration, and students.

Good health, both physical and mental, is essential for being able to work and study well and successfully. The importance of mental health is often underestimated as it is not always visible. Symptoms such as exhaustion, sleep disorders or irritability can develop gradually and lead to serious illness if not recognized and treated in time.

It is important to talk openly about these issues and to raise awareness that mental illness should be taken just as seriously as physical illness. Seeking support and taking care of your own mental health is an essential step.

Aim of the event

The FiF event aims to help remove the stigma from the topic, including in university contexts, and to provide information about the topic, its connections and possible answers in the best sense of the word. It also offers opportunities for encounters and exchanges – for all status groups at TU Darmstadt from science and administration.

Registration

When? Thursday, 26 June 2025, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Where? Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal, Building S1|03 Room 283, Hochschulstraße 1

Registration at eveeno (opens in new tab)

https://eveeno.com/207837172

In memoriam Felix Hill (1983-2024)

Felix Hill was a young, highly talented AI researcher. He received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge and most recently worked for several years as an internationally esteemed senior researcher in one of the best research departments – Google DeepMind in London. On 5 December 2024, he took his own life, having been increasingly affected by mental health issues, depression and psychosis since 2023. The texts he left behind speak openly of loneliness, fear, isolation and also of enormous pressure. Serious mental health issues correlate with drug and alcohol abuse, which leads to unbearable psychosis and ultimately to the decision to take one's own life.

In the texts he left behind, Felix Hill explicitly expressed the wish that his story be told – not for its own sake, but to encourage others facing similar problems to seek help and advice in good time. We take Felix Hill at his word and honour his memory by making these texts publicly available as part of this FiF forum.

Felix Hill has already formulated the aim of this event:

…“Returning to the question of mental health, one thing I hope to do by sharing my story is to reduce stigma and generally further the progressive evolution of society in a small way. Not long ago people were embarrassed to have cancer. In Humans of AI I tried to raise this a bit with Druv Batra, but I wasn’t brave enough to do it properly. Maybe we can use some of my savings to get the message out further. I’m ashamed of many things, but I’m not ashamed of my illness, and it would be nice to build a world where nobody is.”…

Felix Hill
Felix Hill

On mental health, psychedelics and life

….“If you are a leader in any field, public or private, please remember that a kind and supportive environment is a way to make your organization stronger and better, not weaker.”

“I also want it to be very clear that none what has happened to me did so because I felt ‘under pressure’ from professional responsibilities. My professional life, doing research, was never anything except the most incredible joy. Pressures I felt were the consequence of me not allowing myself to find peace with what I was achieving, comparing to others, always wanting to be better. Ambition is a double-edged sword, and a fine balance to strike. I knew this (I had devoured a lot of Buddhism and Stoicism), but I didn’t find the right balance. Nothing external could have fixed that particular problem.”

“Returning to the question of mental health, one thing I hope to do by sharing my story is to reduce stigma and generally further the progressive evolution of society in a small way. Not long ago people were embarrassed to have cancer. In Humans of AI I tried to raise this a bit with Druv Batra, but I wasn’t brave enough to do it properly. Maybe we can use some of my savings to get the message out further. I’m ashamed of many things, but I’m not ashamed of my illness, and it would be nice to build a world where nobody is.”

“Since I first had depression in 2006, preventing anything of this nature became one of my life’s goals. That’s what drew me to the Vipassana course, to Buddhism, to yoga, to marathons. Thanks to the amazing love, support, experiences and opportunities that my friends provided me, we got from 20 to 38, and those were 18 incredibly happy years (as you can see from the highlights). I didn’t get to 80, and I didn’t achieve my dream of having a family of our own, but apart from that we did pretty well. The only truly bit I’d change is the last 18 months.”

“The only way that I could have been able to prevent this is by not taking ketamine.”

“Thank you for reading and thank you for everything, everyone, from the bottom of my heart. Make the most of the world. I was fortunate to see quite a lot of it, and it’s an incredible place. Keep tabs on your ambition, be kind even if you are drunk and don’t take ketamine without a doctor. If you are having difficulties, talk to someone. Alcohol, drugs, mental illness or just grief. If you are feeling suicidal, please, for your friends and family, try all of the help that I tried, however hard it feels. Even endure the pain of hospital, at least once. Hospital itself is an even greater hell, but telling professionals how you are feeling may be worth the risk. Keep talking and keep going. These things work for a lot of people, and you don’t know they won’t work for you until you have tried”

Felix Hill 2024: On mental health, psychedelics and life

Felix Hill, Oct 2024: 200Bn Weights of Responsibility – The Stress of Working in Modern AI

reddit: Felix Hill has died

Lecture and participants of the discussion

The event will address the following questions: How is the subject viewed from a scientific perspective? How are phenomena of mental illness perceived and how do they manifest themselves? How can problems be responded to with concrete offers of help? What specific help and counselling services are available at TU Darmstadt?

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Thomas Fuchs – Professor at the University Hospital Heidelberg Sektion Phänomenologische Psychopathologie und Psychotherapie (opens in new tab) and Director of the Tagesklinik Blankenburg. (opens in new tab)

Lecture on the topic: ‘Fast, faster, too fast. Excessive demands, burn-out and depression’.

Professor Fuchs' lecture will be followed by a panel discussion in which the following people will take part:

  • Nadine Balzter – Head of Student Health Management at TU Darmstadt
  • Dr. Donya Gilan – Psychological Director of the Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Centre, Mainz
  • Prof. Dr. Iryna Gurevych – Professor at the Department of Computer Science LOEWE-Zentrum DYNAMIC & Ubiquitous Knowledge Processing (UKP) Lab
  • Prof. Dr. Felix Kühnle – Professor at the Department of Human Sciences, Sociology of Sport
  • Dipl.-Soz. Frauke Spreckels – Head of the Counselling Centre for Employees BuB at TU Darmstadt

The event will be moderated by Dr Claudia Becker.