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Burnout and Mental Health

stephaniehurlburt.com

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Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#61

Post by dccooper »

adamnemecek wrote: post #32
tsunamifury wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually one of the symptoms of anxiety -- it makes you over-estimate the consequences of stopping. You need to choose to take time, push through the initial panic rush that will come from it, then come out the other side.

Can you talk more about this? Do you have any resources on dealing with this? OPs description hits a bit too close to home.

One of the most common frameworks to thinking about anxiety is CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Basically there are both things that you’re doing and things that you’re thinking that trap you in a cycle of anxiety.

The symptom tsunamifury talked about is what we call Catastrophizing – that is you over-estimate / over-value negative consequences over positive or neutral ones. It’s not just “If I stop working or slow down, I might not make as much money,” it is instead, “If I even take time to slow down, all my peers will be better than me or I might miss that one opportunity that’s going to make or break my career and then my professional life will be over and I might as well spend my time making software for businesses in the middle of Oklahoma.”

What I’d try and get patients to do is to rationally evaluate the evidence that any or all of these might happen. Is one missed connection really going to make or break your career? Is one failed pitch? Do you know of any founders/devs who failed big and recovered? What makes you think you couldn’t do the same.

If you want to know more, here are some good places to start – mix of websites and articles. (Apologies in advance for the potato quality on some of these links – I’m slowly dragging my field into the 21st century.) I’d also recommend going to see a therapist – even if it’s just for a few sessions. It might be helpful to get an outside viewpoint on your current situation.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201212/cogn... http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/step1.htm http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263389/ http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/anxiety-treatment.aspx

(Source: Me, I'm a psychologist who's done therapy with clients and now makes mobile apps. I tried to make this as HN-oriented as possible)

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#62

Post by tsunamifury »

adamnemecek wrote: post #32
tsunamifury wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually one of the symptoms of anxiety -- it makes you over-estimate the consequences of stopping. You need to choose to take time, push through the initial panic rush that will come from it, then come out the other side.

Can you talk more about this? Do you have any resources on dealing with this? OPs description hits a bit too close to home.

First, anxietycoach.com helps with the day to day problems if you are suffering from irrational fears and/or panic attacks. This is a common symptom of overwork/anxiety and you can totally overcome it. Its mostly about working on some better habits that are very simple.

Beyond that, I know that for myself, anxiety keeps me from taking a real actual measure of my resources (costs, burn rate, etc) because as I get more anxious I just fill those data points in with a vague thought that its doomed. When I sit down, take an real mathematical measure of the situation, I am able to overcome the internal misconceptions that "i can never stop" or "I'll never escape this."

To put this in perspective, I live in the SFBay where the financial spiral here is terrible. That being said, taking the measure of reality, helps me accept what I can and can't do. Once that is defined, I find myself feeling a lot more confidence in handling even the most dire situation -- because at least I have formed a rational plan.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#63

Post by adamnemecek »

tsunamifury wrote: post #62
adamnemecek wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you talk more about this? Do you have any resources on dealing with this? OPs description hits a bit too close to home.

First, anxietycoach.com helps with the day to day problems if you are suffering from irrational fears and/or panic attacks. This is a common symptom of overwork/anxiety and you can totally overcome it. Its mostly about working on some better habits that are very simple. Beyond that, I know that for myself, anxiety keeps me from taking a real actual measure of my resources (costs, burn rate, etc) because as I get more…

Thanks!

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#64

Post by adamnemecek »

dccooper wrote: post #61
adamnemecek wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you talk more about this? Do you have any resources on dealing with this? OPs description hits a bit too close to home.

One of the most common frameworks to thinking about anxiety is CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Basically there are both things that you’re doing and things that you’re thinking that trap you in a cycle of anxiety. The symptom tsunamifury talked about is what we call Catastrophizing – that is you over-estimate / over-value negative consequences over positive or neutral ones. It’s not just “If I stop working or slo…

Thanks! Should I look for a particular type of therapist?

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#66

Post by xyience »

_yosefk wrote: post #9

For someone with no responsibilities except work, 70 hour weeks are sustainable (did it for 3 years, not to be recommended, but no burnout.) People report way larger numbers of hours though and probably have to handle more than just their work; I don't know where things start to break down, they ought to somewhere.

I think you need an additional component: no other desires except work. Many of us don't have jobs that fully satisfy (or let's be honest, even barely satisfy, since even 50% satisfaction would be nice and tolerable at some places) our minds, and once the thought patterns of "I can't wait for the day to be over so that I can X" start, they're hard to stop. Then you kind of need monk-like discipline to continually deny yourself your greater desires over the timespan of years if you don't want to go crazy / suffer burnout.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#67

Post by njloof »

I'm really surprised to read the article she linked... Labor laws in Quebec do not exempt game employees, they should be getting overtime anytime they're over 50 hours a week...

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#68

Post by [deleted] »

jondubois wrote: post #44
gt565k wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take 2 weeks off and buy an airplane ticket asap. It helps to have something to look forward to. Go to a different country, a change of scenery, new cultures to explore are always a great way to take your mind off the daily grind.

I refined my initial comment a little to not to sound so depressing. I do enjoy my work itself but the pursuit of success is not enjoyable when you don't get any meaningful results - Especially when the whole system feels like it is stacked against you. I did change countries recently - I'm working remotely but it's definitely not a break.

[deleted]

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#69

Post by alatkins »

nul_byte wrote: post #33

I hope I don't sound conceited here, but this was me and I resolved the issue. Meditation. 15 minutes a day is all it takes, and I get myself to that place of not giving a care in the world and feeling all the stress just drop away. The only way I can describe it as, is like when you go on a beach holiday and you're lying in the sun, not sure what day it is (Saturday, Wednesday?) and feeling content. Its now become v…

I'm so glad I found a therapist for my burnout, as she introduced me to mindfulness meditation and it had the same impact for me at the parent poster.

The 'Mindfulness' app has decent free guided meditations, but I highly recommend the Headspace paid subscription, it costs peanuts compared to the value of your health and happiness. It's so well organised, has heaps of content, and they seem to be fairly science-based in their approach.

EDIT: Typo.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#70

Post by kirubakaran »

netule wrote: post #42
jondubois wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been working on my latest project for about 5 years (before that I spent 5 years on a project which ended in failure) with my latest project, the market has kept changing and I keep pivoting in subtle ways to stay relevant. I've never raised any funding and I'm competing against really well funded startups so basically every few months, I see some other company implement my idea (ahead of me) and I have to keep…

It's scary to think that with some minor alterations I could have written your previous two posts. The worst thing is that deep down I enjoy the pressure even though I know it's slowly destroying my life and everything I love. I just seem to take it and turn to stone.

Please make a change and the addiction will wear off. Not easy, but worthwhile.
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