Slashdot Mirror
Burnout and Depression Among IT Workers?
Cultural Sublimation asks: "All of us working in IT seem to be
especially prone to problems like
burnout and depression. Could part
of the reason be directly related
to our professions? Recently, there
have been a number of interesting
features on Kuro5hin which have focused precisely on this issue. From people claiming that "
The Internet Is Driving Me Crazy",
to an in-depth two-part series trying to
demystify
depression, the message is that too
much information might be making us sick.
What are the experiences of fellow
Slashdot readers on this topic?"
Information overload is part of the problem. The other part is the abusive lifestyles we lead - in part by choice and in part because the industry expects it of us. The more strenuous brain-work you're having to do on a daily basis, the more sleep you need to avoid clinical depression - yet we're expected to, want to, and are driven to sleep relatively little.
The answer is to do you magic during an 8 hour work day, and spend the rest of the day being relaxes, and get a good 8-10 hours of sleep every night - good sound sleep. If you're already suffering clinical depression of some stage, you need even more sleep to recover from it. A good diet and a healthy level of exercise also wouldn't hurt. Be sure to read the linked kuro5hin articles though on the caveats of exercise for the clinically depressed.
11*43+456^2
I'm going to sleep.
Slashdot: Vague rumours for nerds, armchair-philosophers that matter.
read http://daily.rotten.com and you'll soon see that *your* life is a paradise, provided you're not featured of course.
For an early introduction into what you *could* become, take a look at the poor fuckers on the mother site
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
sometimes I want to be the person in the 3rd world who has never ever even taken a phone call.... not the guy that has 15 remote sessions open, and 10 browser tabs... if I owned a mobile serial killing would not be far behind!
Sig Hansen?
I was a depressed overweight nerd sitting at the computer too long, getting angry and frustrated.
Now I am an overweight happy nerd sitting at the computer playing WoW, getting angry and frustrated at all the n00bs who can't play as well as me.
Things tend to work themselves out. =P
I am depressed because you wasted a lot of space.
I have the opposite problem: my productivity declines as my tasks get simpler.
... that's the real evil side of my life. I mean - I have enough money in the bank, I have the bills, I have enough checks - where's the challenge in that. Actually writing that check and getting it in the mail is a trivial exercise left to the reader. Much to simple an answer for me to actually complete the exercise. Visa wasn't impressed.
That's funny, because it's the same for me. I'd be most relaxed at a gun-fight, particularly if automatic weapons are being used on either side. At least I could stay focused and I'd have a well defined, single goal.
The simple crap, like paying bills
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Man... that's depressing...