Hacker News Reader

Comment by reitanqild | Hacker News Reader

> It's not clear to me what is burnout.

For me[0] it just happened when I realized that no matter how hard I worked the company I worked for where going to go bankrupt anyway.

I started crying anytime I was alone. Sounds that reminded me about problems at work (e.g. a loose drive belt) would instantly give me pain in my stomach. It took months before I could work in customer facing work again. I was lucky, worked at a farm and completed military (draft) in between and little by little things got better.

I sometimes feel really exhausted and unmotivated, going to work only because it is a duty (to work and my family) but I never burned out again.

[0]: This was before burnouts was a thing so I never got a diagnosis and I only realized later that I hat hit the wall hard.

View on HN

This sounds like depression, not burnout.

Isn't burnout just a "because-of-work" depression?

And is it possible to "burnout" of something else than work?

For me one of the factors that separates burnout from other forms is the "burn" part.

It was the fact that I had worked so hard only to see it fail anyway and people I worked with not caring rather still buy tools while they had already IIRC started looting the place.

Another thing: That job was way beyond stressful. At some points two big blokes, one coworker I had though of as a friend together with a friend of him came to "take" me whatever that meant and the way I got away was running for the kitchen, grabbing a knife and place myself in the doorway so nobody could get behind me. Eventually they gave up.

I thought burnout to be caused by stress and exhaustion. Your mind shuts down to protect itself and anything work related triggers heavy anxiety. In that respect burnout is more akin to PTSD than depression.

I unfortunately have PTSD from my service in combat, and have previously burned out at work, before my time in the infantry. These two things are not related nor for that matter very much alike. Burnout -- at least, the burnout that I have experienced -- is manageable to some degree, but I could tell you stories about PTSD that don't sound believable.

Indeed. I've suffered through burnout and recently realized I have PTSD as well (though it's comparatively minor, I didn't realize for the longest time because it was due to childhood emotional trauma not combat or anything like that and I had no clue what the symptoms were or what could cause it).

Burnout is a stress disorder, as is PTSD, but trauma is typically not involved. Indeed, the lack of trauma is often why burnout sneaks up on people so easily. At least with PTSD you often have some "big event" that you can track things back to that is something that most people would say "ok, that's something that can be life altering". But you can burnout even if you're working only 20 hours a week at a "fun" job and earning 6 figures a year. Burnout is caused by stress, PTSD is stress and other symptoms caused by trauma. They share some similar symptoms because they both involve stress, but they are not the same. Removing the stress and spending time relaxing usually helps clear up burnout to a substantial degree, but the stress in PTSD is caused by the memory of trauma that happened in the past, and that doesn't go away, it's internal not external. Additionally, PTSD is not only harder to tackle it's also typically more life altering because it has much more severe symptoms (arousal, hypervigilance, constant reliving of the trauma, guilt, being easily startled, etc.)

Seriously. Comparing burnout to PTSD is inaccurate, insulting, and offensive.

Post traumatic stress disorder - trauma. Coding is not trauma and can't be compared to trauma.

A serious burnout is serious as well.

Two issues: 1. it seems lots people mix up burnout with exhaustion or lack of motivation. It is not the same.

2. I'm afraid, and I am not alone to think that people feel like burnout == bragging rights.

It is not. It is just painful and unproductive. I now say (tongue-in-cheek, admittedly) that it is far better to keep going at 95-120% for year after year than going all the way to 160 for weeks, meet the wall and needing months to fully recover. Often families and other relationships suffer as well.

I got into really dark places from overworking. Stopped feeling like myself, stopped feeling my body. I'd get panic attacks, shut down, feel like I'm watching the movie of my life rather than living it as first person. I basically wasn't myself anymore. A simple thought could propel me into that other dimension. I had all kind of weird body effects, couldn't feel limbs, completely lost strength in my back to the point I couldn't stand or sit. It took months to get back to normal.

So is your second sentence inaccurate, insulting, and offensive? yeah

Yes, I'm very well aware of all those symptoms.

Still can't compare it to PTSD.

well watch me

For me it was college.

Depression (in this context) would be more perhaps better viewed as part of the family of symptoms of burnout.

I think they are very related.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com