To me it seems like a mindset issue rather than a predisposition - having gone through it.

Employment is mostly about taking on the burden of someone else's stress and handling it. When your stress becomes too much the employer hires peers and perhaps gives you some minions to make things better.

If you were never taught how to manage stress and your family hasn't ingrained stoic values into you (because they themselves were never taught them) then the body is going to become overwhelmed, give up and switch into protective mode, also known as burnout, anxiety, depression, breakdowns etc.

Great comment - thanks for sharing. I think I agree - it's not just about the environment you work in (although I think certain environments bring it out more), it's a certain type of personality/mindset maybe.

I think it's both. I mean, just look at the variance in response to caffeine that people have. The nervous system clearly comes into play in all this.

I got made redundant rather than minions. Good outcome for me. Less good outcome for the startup staff I think.

You think it is a personality issue then? Some people can just handle pressure better than others?

Thanks for the insight btw :)