I'm reminded of the story of Windows NT and how David Cutler commented at one point after the release that divorces and nervous breakdowns were tracked in the program metrics. I expect that's hyperbole, but there is a real cost to these death marches.

I couldn't find that specific quote, though, and being 25 years back it could be a false memory of who said it (I did read it somewhere, if you were on the team at the time, please speak up!). Here are a couple of illustrations[0][1].

[0] http://read.pudn.com/downloads196/ebook/923902/ShowStopper!-...

[1] http://www.proudlyserving.com/archives/2007/09/dave_cutler_w...