5 ms·

Is burnout and depression real? How you know you are in it?

8 points by codesternews 8y ago

Is that real or is it just boredom feeling? I might be suffering from it but how you know for sure you are suffering from it and it is real?

smt88 8y ago
It's real and common. However, you're an individual person, and it'll affect you differently than it does others. You won't find an answer by asking people on HN. You need individual assessment and care from a counselor or therapist. If it's just boredom, you can always stop seeing them. If it's more than that, you'll find that it's worth the time and money to see a professional.
- greenyoda 8y ago
  > You won't find an answer by asking people on HN. However, there has been a lot of discussion of burnout on HN, and you might benefit from hearing what people who have experienced it have to say about it. Just type "burnout" into the HN search box and you'll see lots of past discussions.
throwaway180118 8y ago
It's real, and the warning signs of depression should be treated seriously and immediately. Burnout is the result of ignoring the signs of chronic mental fatigue, at least in my personal experience.
hector_ka 8y ago
Here are some signs of burnout: Thinking about leaving the job every day. Not enjoying things that used to enjoy before. Irascible Thinking about taking sick days The things you can do is : Take a few days off Try to sleep a lot
- shifto 8y ago
  I think I just realized I don't like my job reading this.
sloaken 8y ago
When I had severe burnout I would go to work but could not accomplish anything. I was more like a zombie. I asked to take a vacation and a few weeks leave without pay to help get my head straight. It was denied (I was too important to be gone that long, but not important enough to be paid well). So I quit. Took a 6 weeks to ride a bike to Maine. By about week 10 I was really ready to work again... oh well Since then I have learned to recognize the signs much earlier and I take time off when I need to. Hey wow, guess who took today and tomorrow off. We are going to shop for Raspberry Pi parts .... that should fix me :) Oh sunlight helps, a lot!
justaguyhere 8y ago
Some things that I personally experienced: No (or way less than usual) interest in going to work Feeling tired, bored all or most of the time Unable to concentrate on even the most trivial tasks
pavanman5000 8y ago
You know you're depressed when you stop caring about things, when you stop putting effort into things. You may have a burst here and there, but it's short lived. To fight this, you need to regularly (do not skip a week) put focus on your hobbies, spend time away from work (ex: a day trip up to Mt. Diablo), spend time with people that make you happy, spend time outside, sleep 8 hours a day (a lack of sleep will make you a zombie), meditate, exercise and stretch (make sure you do a light jog before stretching) fighting depression isn't something you focus on after you're depressed, it's something you focus on while you're content so you don't get depressed. Crawling out of depression is extremely difficult, so make consistent efforts to fight it now.

8 points by codesternews 8y ago

Is that real or is it just boredom feeling? I might be suffering from it but how you know for sure you are suffering from it and it is real?

smt88 8y ago

It's real and common. However, you're an individual person, and it'll affect you differently than it does others. You won't find an answer by asking people on HN. You need individual assessment and care from a counselor or therapist. If it's just boredom, you can always stop seeing them. If it's more than that, you'll find that it's worth the time and money to see a professional.

greenyoda 8y ago
> You won't find an answer by asking people on HN. However, there has been a lot of discussion of burnout on HN, and you might benefit from hearing what people who have experienced it have to say about it. Just type "burnout" into the HN search box and you'll see lots of past discussions.

throwaway180118 8y ago

It's real, and the warning signs of depression should be treated seriously and immediately. Burnout is the result of ignoring the signs of chronic mental fatigue, at least in my personal experience.

hector_ka 8y ago

Here are some signs of burnout: Thinking about leaving the job every day. Not enjoying things that used to enjoy before. Irascible Thinking about taking sick days The things you can do is : Take a few days off Try to sleep a lot

shifto 8y ago
I think I just realized I don't like my job reading this.

sloaken 8y ago

When I had severe burnout I would go to work but could not accomplish anything. I was more like a zombie. I asked to take a vacation and a few weeks leave without pay to help get my head straight. It was denied (I was too important to be gone that long, but not important enough to be paid well). So I quit. Took a 6 weeks to ride a bike to Maine. By about week 10 I was really ready to work again... oh well Since then I have learned to recognize the signs much earlier and I take time off when I need to. Hey wow, guess who took today and tomorrow off. We are going to shop for Raspberry Pi parts .... that should fix me :) Oh sunlight helps, a lot!

justaguyhere 8y ago

Some things that I personally experienced: No (or way less than usual) interest in going to work Feeling tired, bored all or most of the time Unable to concentrate on even the most trivial tasks

pavanman5000 8y ago

You know you're depressed when you stop caring about things, when you stop putting effort into things. You may have a burst here and there, but it's short lived. To fight this, you need to regularly (do not skip a week) put focus on your hobbies, spend time away from work (ex: a day trip up to Mt. Diablo), spend time with people that make you happy, spend time outside, sleep 8 hours a day (a lack of sleep will make you a zombie), meditate, exercise and stretch (make sure you do a light jog before stretching) fighting depression isn't something you focus on after you're depressed, it's something you focus on while you're content so you don't get depressed. Crawling out of depression is extremely difficult, so make consistent efforts to fight it now.