Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#291

Post by jm__87 » Mon, Mar 11, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

short_sells_poo wrote: post #37

thraway-burnout wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please congratulate that person on my behalf. Even though it may be the result of an epiphany, self-restraint is still hard to achieve and a noble goal in itself :-)

I'd like to prefix this as _anecdotal_ as it is only some speculation I've done on the matter, but here is my take on it: The brain is in the end a neural network, and like all such devices, can get stuck in various local minima that are difficult to get out of. An old habit that has been reinforced through many years can take a considerable "shock" to dislodge. All the little cognitive and behavioral biases that one…

If you haven't read it already, you should totally read "How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan. The book more or less agrees with your point (though I don't think the science has necessarily come to a solid conclusion on which mental disorders psychedelics are going to help relieve. I think alcoholism had a fairly high response rate, though). I believe the book "Capture" by David Kessler also covers the phenomena of how minds can end up "stuck" in some mode, so to speak, though I have yet to read that one.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#292

Post by jm__87 » Mon, Mar 11, 2019, 11:35 PM UTC

lm28469 wrote: post #58

short_sells_poo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to prefix this as _anecdotal_ as it is only some speculation I've done on the matter, but here is my take on it: The brain is in the end a neural network, and like all such devices, can get stuck in various local minima that are difficult to get out of. An old habit that has been reinforced through many years can take a considerable "shock" to dislodge. All the little cognitive and behavioral biases that one…

The problem is that we shouldn't feel the need to use drugs to make our lives bearable. Depression, burnout and other mental issues is amplified by our lifestyles and the system that allowed them. Sure you can take psychedelics, anti depressant, alcohol, and other drugs to make it bearable, it won't fix the underlying issue(s). I agree with most of what you say on psychedelics, I don't see it as a cure to what we're…

Have you ever been depressed or burnt out? Cause I have suffered from both. I will agree that alcohol and most drugs are likely going to make your problems worse or at the very least, keep you at whatever level of happiness you're currently at. I would say psychedelics and antidepressants fall outside of these categories. Many people take antidepressants for a short period of time and then go off of them. Similarly, psychedelics could potentially be a single trip and you're cured type scenario. The benefit of psychedelics as I understand them (though I have never done them personally) is that they allow you to gain a completely new perspective. With this new experience, you can begin to see the world in a more positive light after the experience is done, instead of having a dark cloud hanging over you at all times. It has more to do with kicking your mind out of a loop, as opposed to escaping reality.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#293

Post by Solvitieg » Mon, Mar 11, 2019, 11:43 PM UTC

jeofken wrote: post #169

For years I struggled to become financially independent (as Mr Money Mustache). Years upon years of watching the clock until it hit 17:30, hating the dumb coders who made a mess for me to clean up (because I know FP, and if we had types these bugs wouldn’t be here in the first place!). A year ago, I pulled the plug, and retired. Finally, I could work on my dream project every day. I did so for 6 months, and travelled…

It's so interesting that you had the discipline to save and retire, but upon retiring you didn't have the discipline to start any good habits.

Why do you think you dropped the ball after quitting your job? What would you do differently this time?

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#294

Post by albertzeyer » Mon, Mar 11, 2019, 11:57 PM UTC

nabnob wrote: post #36

I've been having the same existential crisis for a couple years now. I started working at a FAANG company right out of college, then after a bunch of personal health problems ended up taking a leave of absence that I didn't return from. I took a long break from software and started learning politics, philosophy, and history, and eventually came to the conclusion that most of the world's problems are social/political…

If you don't know it already, you are probably interested in these:

https://80000hours.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism

They are basically thinking about exactly this question, what is most important for the society / humanity / the world, and how can you make the biggest impact to achieve such a goal. This very much depends on your background and abilities, of course.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#295

Post by elliotec » Mon, Mar 11, 2019, 11:59 PM UTC

I am proud of this person for finding such deep meaning in his life.

I also think it's possible that one can practice deep listening, use psychedelics responsibly, and practice methods such as the Rosen Method (or any other meditation-esque practices including yoga etc) without dedicating their life fully to them, and receive magnificent benefits - including prevention of burnout.

It may be his calling, but it seems burnout is a large motivator to this decision as others have discussed.

I just wanted to come here to say I do the things he does regularly (but by no means am I an expert), to a great degree of success and benefit, while keeping a software job I love and not becoming a therapist. I have no signs of burnout and I actually attribute that in large part to discovering similar "clues" as discussed in the article, early on.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#296

Post by loganfrederick » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:06 AM UTC

NeoBasilisk wrote: post #263

genezeta wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe too many people are trying to find all their meaning in life through their work. You probably shouldn't make your "meaning in life" reside completely in your work. But then again, you can't work at a job that is completely meaningless to you. The problem with burnout generally comes from the feeling of pointlessness. And IT excels at that feeling. We 've built an industry that is accustomed -almost to the poi…

>you can't work at a job that is completely meaningless to you You absolutely can, and millions of people do every day.

But that's also probably why millions of people are psychologically miserable all the time. The subset of people who are working a full-time completely meaningless job (may not apply to part-time) and then finding happiness outside of work entirely. There's plenty of gray in-between though (people define 'meaningless' in their own way).

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#297

Post by rdiddly » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:26 AM UTC

ben7799 wrote: post #90

Maybe too many people are trying to find all their meaning in life through their work. It's not a recipe for success for most people, I think the media plays it up a bit too much. They're only covering the success stories in terms of people who are single minded and who make their work everything. The author of the article doesn't mention any relationships or other interests in life, no passion for anything but work.…

"...work becomes just something you do to pay the bills."

And the flipside of separating things like that, is that when activities you enjoy are freed completely from having to be a source of money, they sometimes can start to be more fun and meaningful in their own right.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#298

Post by notduncansmith » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:33 AM UTC

ben7799 wrote: post #90

Maybe too many people are trying to find all their meaning in life through their work. It's not a recipe for success for most people, I think the media plays it up a bit too much. They're only covering the success stories in terms of people who are single minded and who make their work everything. The author of the article doesn't mention any relationships or other interests in life, no passion for anything but work.…

I think the problem many people find in seeking this balance is that, when it comes to skilled/creative labor, it takes a combination of natural talent and deliberate skill-building to break through the plateau of mediocrity. Many are not comfortable making the conscious choice to be mediocre at their trade, despite the fact that being good or great at their trade may not actually bring them happiness.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#299

Post by danans » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:33 AM UTC

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #290

danans wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But why is my own intellectual curiosity more important than whether someone else gets to eat? It's not, but unless you are working on something that is directly impoverishing someone to this point, then the economic or social system that allows people to go hungry and without basics is more to blame than your particular role. People don't go hungry anymore due to lack of societal resources. It's due to either a la…

No individual snowflake thinks it is responsible for the avalanche. Being aware of your own contribution to the state of the world and being willing to change that are important, even if you account for only a minuscule part of the problem.

Individual awareness is different than individual actions. Awareness can actually scale through individual change due to the non linear way that information spreads, and that can in turn influence policy, which then operates over the whole domain. That's sort of the whole political process in a nutshell.

But individual acts of sacrifice for the common good are not scalable in the same way, due to our inherent aversion to loss.

Usually large scale acts of sacrifice are the result of worse alternative consequences, like imprisonment or penalties for cheating on taxes.

Re: Why I Quit Tech and Became a Therapist

#300

Post by president » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:36 AM UTC

tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #86

shade wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've commented on this previously, but I think there's some aspects of the tech industry that really do lead to burnout, depression, and cynicism among the people who work in it - and this applies to both software dev and IT support. We spend so much time dealing with tools that tend to be extremely pedantic and detail-focused. We're constantly thinking about all of the stuff that's gone wrong with our applications p…

> We spend so much time dealing with tools that tend to be extremely pedantic and detail-focused. This in combination with deadlines has caused my resting face to develop into an angry expression. As soon as I stop smiling and return to my “neutral” face, I look like I am angry, ready to kill someone. I now make an effort to smile while walking so people don’t get frightened.

You've just described my face since I joined my current company (about a year now). My old job was half the stress and I worked with people that were fun and respectful of each other. Now I work in a place with an unscalable pace of work with people that are angry and hate each other. My resting face is one of anger and despair even when I'm not working.