kierantie

I have no intention to productize my thoughts on burnout - I just know that one of the things that helped me the most was reading other people's accounts of what they went through. It took me a lot of searching to find the help I needed - if, by sharing, I'm able to make that a little easier for a few others, then I'll be happy.

> Personally, I'm still searching for that magic job but through trial-and-error I'm getting pretty good at identifying what I don't want to do.

Knowing what you DON'T want to do is sometimes more important and useful than knowing what you DO want to do!

No problem - so glad it helped!

Taking months off isn't the only option. It's just one way of buying you enough headspace to begin to see what the true problem is. Identifying the cause is the first step - then you can start to take small steps towards fixing that specific problem/s. Even small things, like turning off your phone when you leave work for the day, or taking a walk outside on your lunch break, can help a lot.

I hear that - it sounds VERY similar to what I dealt with. I also had the additional problem of working to help an audience and a customer base that deep down, I didn't care about.

So many people seem to believe it's only about overwork - but that's only a small part of it. It's a myth I tried to dispel as best I could in the article.

Hey everyone - thanks so much for reading! Burnout and depression is a topic that not enough of us talk about, even though that's often the best solution.

If you know anyone struggling with burnout or depression, or you just enjoyed my article, I'd be forever grateful if you'd share it with them on Twitter or Facebook, to help spread the word. Thanks so much!

Glad it helped! I've heard from so many people that have been struggling with the same thing, but didn't even know that's what was going on. It took me months to realize what was happening, and one of the biggest things that helped was reading about others' accounts of their experiences - which is what prompted me to write about it also.

Yep - I mentioned Christina's book in my article as a great resource. My wife is a therapist, and she sees a lot of other people in the field struggling with the same issues, especially for those who work with high-risk groups.

Maybe they're too busy to write about it? ;)

I think your point about devs/designers/PMs/etc. having a unique culture is spot on. It's a field that tends to attract a lot of high achievers, and a field that people tend to tie themselves a lot to their work. That was one of my main problems - over a few years, I started to define myself based on the work I was doing. It's taken me a lot longer to dig out of it than I thought.