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?"

Comments

ADD via the Internet

[dave-tx]

I'm sure it's nothing unique or particularly unusual, but I've found that over the past few years my attention span has become very short. I attribute this to the Internet and the ability to get information about anything I want very quickly.

Television, radio, and even my favorite hobby of listening to music seem to need to be supplanted by something else. I used to enjoy sitting down, putting on a CD or record and just listening. Now, I get bored too quickly - and that makes me somewhat sad (but not depressed).

Re:ADD via the Internet

[MrAnnoyanceToYou]

When you've got a brain the size of a planet, like most geeks, it's quite easy to see the outcome of all things. The pointlessness of it all. I'm going to go take a nap.

On-topic, my guess is that a big piece of it is that tech workers tend away, habitually and culturally, from physical exercise and good eating habits. I started doing yoga (cap?) a month and a half ago, and err... yeah. Speaking of changes in attitude and life style... Wow. My suggestion if you're feeling like crap is to go find a physical activity you enjoy (rock climbing, yoga, swimming, sex, etc.) and egage in it regularly. I suggest, as well, that it become rather easy for you to participate in, (which automatically excludes certain options for most people who spend enough time in front of a computer) so that you don't have to FORCE yourself to do it.

As an aside, I love Yoga, and my pot belly is going the way of the dodo, slowly.

Most of all, remember that being athletic and doing something physical every few days at LEAST is something that will make you feel better after a month or more of dedication. Funny how you can spend six months perfecting a rocket jump but be frustrated when you don't feel any change in your body after eating right for a few days....

And if you get that mental point where you think, "Jesus, I've been doing the same thing for ten seconds now and I can't stand it," physical activity will show you, eventually, that standing it is completely possible, and you will enjoy it later.

Burn out is putting it mildly.

[infojunkie]

I've been experiencing this 'effect' lately.

I'm the sole developer on a fairly elaborate project. Everything tech related is my responsibility. Site design and architecture, development, support, training, hardware, software, security, everything.

Early on, it wasn't so bad. Then a year went by. Then two. The third has now completed and I'm entering the fourth. Some days I sit at my desk staring at the screen. In my mind, I'm running through everything I should be doing, but I can't seem to get my fingers to do the typing or my legs to move me to the other side of the room to the desk where I work on hardware.

I almost didn't bother typing this... but it's kind of theraputic in a way.

Anyway, lately I seem to find all kinds of 'filler' activities to consume my time. Reading up on the latest changes to the various software we use, keeping up with /. , or browsing forums for new knowledge. All (mostly) legit use of my time, but it's starting to feel like it is all I can, or want, to do. The worst part is, nothing seems to stick anymore. I'll read some info on a site and not remember it a day later.

Sure, I can probably remember most of the topics on /. but ultimately who cares about that. I sit, frustrated at myself and the amount of mounting work... a pile that grows exponentially it seems... Yet I can't seem to motivate myself to change it. I recognize that it's happening... I see the crash ahead of me. It's not that I'm apathetic or lazy, but I sure seem to be behaving that way. Is this a symptom of depression?

I've never really thought of myself as someone who gets depressed. Maybe that's denial talking. How does one check for that?

More importantly, how does one go about kick-starting their motivation again? I've tried little side projects that are related to what I do already, in the hopes that will gain me some momentum and I can then change lanes and keep working, but I can't even seem to build up any steam.

Even as I type I'm getting bored. Could be because I figure nobody will even care what I'm typing in the first place. Then again, if it helps someone else, or someone with insight can explain it then maybe it was worth it.

I wonder if there's anything good on tv right now?

Re:One should take into account more variables.

[judd]

I have the opposite problem: my productivity declines as my tasks get simpler.

Wow. That is exactly my problem. Complex tasks are engaging enough that they consititute a world of distraction in themselves.

Perhaps this is why I have a lot of unfinished projects. Once it's obvious what needs to be done, and the real mysteries are cracked, you leave the rest as an exercise for the student.

If only I had a student.

Re:Exercise

[david.given]

...exercise as in you're in the zone for a solid 15 minutes at least.

What is this 'zone' thing of which you speak?

No, I'm not being facetious. Some of us don't have one. I don't, for example; no matter how much I do, no matter how I do it, I find exercise very uncomfortable and utterly boring. I don't phase out, I have to keep concentrating every moment.

I'm not unfit; I'm about 75kg or so, right at the median for my body size, I cycle to work and back each day, but the simple fact is that continued anaerobic exercise is hideously uncomfortable and remains so. I used to go to the gym and doing things like running a kilometre without any practice before hand isn't a problem. I just hate it. I gave up going to the gym because I really wasn't enjoying it and I kept finding myself making excuses not to go, and frankly, life's too short.

(I have experienced the endorphin rush that I think you're talking about a few times --- but it's never been with anaerobic exercise; always aerobic. Hill walking, actually, which is at least interesting, unlike running on a treadmill. Alas, there are no hills near where I live.)