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I experienced something similar recently. In my case, I quit after some unpleasant exchanges with management that were an indirect result of burnout and a diffi

I experienced something similar recently. In my case, I quit after some unpleasant exchanges with management that were an indirect result of burnout and a difficult work environment. I would absolutely agree that folks should take burnout (and depression) seriously. However, please stop blaming yourself entirely for the burnout. It's OK to take some responsibility for not being productive, of course -- any good person would do that in your shoes! But it's your manager's responsibility to give you a productive work environment. If they don't directly contribute output, that's effectively their only responsibility. So keep in mind that you don't exist in a vacuum, and your boss could almost certainly tell that something was wrong... so unless you are very, very, very good at hiding burnout and depression symptoms, they knew what was going on and didn't fix it. Maybe your problems were too significant for a manager to meaningfully deal with (they're not a psychologist, after all), but if they didn't try to help, that's on them. Not you.

tombert 4y ago
To be 100% fair to them they did let me know, and my manager did try and work with me.
- adave 4y ago
  Without fully knowing your situation and guessing your company, i am thinking your were managed out i.e quietly fired.Managers use tactics to burn you out unintentionally so its you who gives up and your work suffers. This is done so as to gather enough evidence and reduce risk for the company. If you happen to record your conversations, take it to a pro and they can tell by the tone of the voice of your manager if they were saying the right things but actually instilling learned helplessness or other such tricks.
  - tombert 4y ago
    I didn't record the conversations, but I'm pretty sure that that wasn't the case. I got the impression that they, at least initially, were trying to work with me. I mean, these things happen, I'm a little annoyed at myself but I just gotta keep moving forward.
whstl 4y ago
I have a different experience. Perhaps that's a cultural thing, but admitting to a manager that I was having mental health issues only made things worse and was certainly the biggest mistake I ever made in my career. I didn't get fired, but it became impossible to solve issues, as every single (legitimate, I swear) complaint or request from me was chalked up to "you're depressed". But your point still stands 100%: it's not on the employee to solve all work-related burnout-inducing issues.

tombert 4y ago

To be 100% fair to them they did let me know, and my manager did try and work with me.

adave 4y ago
Without fully knowing your situation and guessing your company, i am thinking your were managed out i.e quietly fired.Managers use tactics to burn you out unintentionally so its you who gives up and your work suffers. This is done so as to gather enough evidence and reduce risk for the company. If you happen to record your conversations, take it to a pro and they can tell by the tone of the voice of your manager if they were saying the right things but actually instilling learned helplessness or other such tricks.
- tombert 4y ago
  I didn't record the conversations, but I'm pretty sure that that wasn't the case. I got the impression that they, at least initially, were trying to work with me. I mean, these things happen, I'm a little annoyed at myself but I just gotta keep moving forward.

whstl 4y ago

I have a different experience. Perhaps that's a cultural thing, but admitting to a manager that I was having mental health issues only made things worse and was certainly the biggest mistake I ever made in my career. I didn't get fired, but it became impossible to solve issues, as every single (legitimate, I swear) complaint or request from me was chalked up to "you're depressed". But your point still stands 100%: it's not on the employee to solve all work-related burnout-inducing issues.