Occupational Burnout

Nick Soper

niksoper.github.io/revealjs-burnout

Key Sources

2 hrs 17 mins - 4 talks from a live stream - Q&A at 1:32

“...aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn't, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression”

ME, ME, ME

Raised in Bristol

Happy family

Successful

Married

WHAT A TOP BLOKE!

I had burnt out

I remember a conversation with a friend from 5 or 6 years ago when I said I didn’t understand why some people get so stressed about stuff.

Just don’t worry about it!

Although my tongue was in my cheek at the time, I still think I truly believed that stress was something that affected other people, but not me.

I now realise not only that I am susceptible to stress, but it seems that those positive qualities of hard work, determination and drive have played a huge part in adding to the stress in my life.

The unpleasant experience of holding back tears in a garden centre was the trigger that made me realise I needed to do something about my stress.

There wasn’t one single event that lead to the garden centre experience.

I had been aware of feeling stressed for at least six months and when I reflect on those months, I realise that it was inevitable that I would reach some sort of breaking point.

My Work

Longevity - 10 years
Investment - Millions $$$
Isolation - Working alone (mostly)

Thoughts

This work is taking much longer than planned
I'm going to miss the target date
There are loads of bugs I've not yet found

Emotions

Mentally drained - unable to think clearly
Low mood
Sense of inadequacy
Fear of the golden question: “How long will it take?”

Physical feelings

Almost permanent tiredness
Muscle tension
Insomnia

Behaviour

Losing interest in socialising
Working long hours
Trying to do too much

What is burnout?

Maslach Burnout Inventory

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277816643_The_Maslach_Burnout_Inventory_Manual

Emotional exhaustion
Reduced performance or motivation
Detachment or depersonalisation

...a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress in your job...

...when your efforts at work have failed to produce the results that you expected, and you feel deeply disillusioned as a result.
mindtools.com

Fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork,or intense activity.
dictionary.com

An experience of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, caused by long-term involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding.
patient.info

Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced feelings of work-related personal accomplishment

Emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness

Exhaustion and disengagement

wikipedia

A state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by a prolonged period of stress and frustration; an inevitable corporate condition characterized by frequent displays of unprofessional behavior, a blithe refusal to do any work, and most important, a distinct aura of not giving a shit.
urbandictionary.com

Do we encourage stress?

Self-motivated

Expect to fend for yourself because we're too busy to help you.

Fast paced environment

High productivity at all costs.

You'll be fielding a steady flow of emergencies.

You're going to work more hours than we're paying you.

Seeks passionate developer

You’ll put your job above all else.

The word “passion” is a translation of the Greek word πάσχειν paschein, which means ‘to suffer’

Thrives under pressure

Guaranteed stress on a regular basis

Actions

Talk about it

So what should we do? Talk. Listen. Encourage talking. Encourage listening. Keep adding to the conversation.
Matt Haig, Reasons to stay alive

You remember I mentioned earlier that I’d once managed to trick someone into being my wife?

Her name is Emma, and we’re still together and going strong - so naturally, the first conversation I had about my stress level was with her.

This was a difficult thing to do. Hearing the words come out of my mouth made me upset. I found it hard to look at her while I was speaking. I didn’t know why it was so hard, but it was.

The second person I spoke to about it was my boss. The conversation was equally as tough.

I have a great relationship with Emma, and a great (but very different) relationship with my boss (both of them). This topic wasn’t difficult for me because I was worried what the other person would think - it was difficult for me because I wasn’t used to talking about what can be an awkward or even taboo issue: MENTAL HEALTH.

Realise

EVERYBODY HAS MENTAL HEALTH
Monzo, Stress: Are We Coping?

Professional help

Rest

GP - Rest options

Get an official sick note and take two weeks off work
Self sign off for one week
Don’t take time off

Change your habits

Getting someone else on the project
Sticking to my hours
Having open conversations with pretty much everyone (Monzo)

Keeping a mood diary (Monzo)
Daily meditation (Monzo)
Keep exercising
Massively reduced alcohol

Coming out

Private conversations with 3 people at work
Private slack channel

Culture of Transparency

Boys don't cry

Sanctus

We create safe spaces for people to talk about mental health. We do this online, in our community and within the workplace.
sanctus.io

UK	3:1
USA	4:1
Greece	6:1

Suicide rates, male:female

Why do so many men still kill themselves? What is going wrong?

The common answer is that men, traditionally, see mental illness as a sign of weakness and are reluctant to seek help.
Matt Haig, Reasons to stay alive

Horizon: Stopping Male Suicide

...at the Henry Ford hospital in Detroit, where a zero suicide target requires doctors to screen every patient, every time they see them, for mental health issues and suicidal thoughts...
The Guardian - Horizon: Stopping Male Suicide review

This policy reduced suicide rates among their patients by 80% and some years they did achieve their goal of zero!

Really coming out

"Giving permission"

"Making yourself vulnerable"
Monzo, Stress: Are We Coping?

So I started a mental-health slack channel

A phrase that came up repeatedly in the Monzo talks was “giving permission”. In this context it means that all it takes is one person to start a public conversation ("make themselves vulnerable"), and this “gives permission” for others to do the same.

So as a male developer in an office full of other male developers, the next move was obvious - I started a mental-health channel on Slack!

Although I was a bit nervous about it, I was also quietly confident that there would be a positive response. I’d already had a couple of brief conversations about other people’s anxiety and depression so I knew there would be people who might like to use a mental-health channel.

The response was really positive and the channel has been used to share recommendations for podcasts, articles and books. There was also a kind of #metoo effect where people have shared the fact that they’ve experienced problems in the past and come through them.

6 months down the line, the mental health conversations are still happening and we're about to get some training as mental health first aiders.

Recommendations

Mood Diary

Because developers love logging!!!

Daylio (iOS/Android)
Youper (iOS/Android)
Pad & paper

First step that developers take when debugging?

More logging!!!

Daylio has a focus on making really quick entries with no need to type anything - and is useful for correlation.

Youper uses AI and is mainly chat based - it's useful when you've got a bit more time although they say the average conversation time is 7 minutes.

Anything that enables reflection on your past thoughts or moods can be helpful.

I've been making at least two entries a day - 9:00 AM/PM - or when I've noticed my mood changes.

I find it helps to keep yourself aware of how you're actually feeling.

Looking back over the entries for the past few weeks can be a really interesting exercise, especially when you start to correlate activities with moods.

Meditation

Mindfulness

Not dwelling on the past, or worrying about the future.
Nick Soper

Best Meditation Apps 2018 Reviewed

Matt Haig

“...aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn't, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression”

Matt Haig

“...a personal and vital look at how to feel happy, human and whole in the 21st century”

Podcasts

Final thoughts

EVERYBODY HAS MENTAL HEALTH

If you are a man or woman with mental health problems, you are part of a very large and growing group...
Matt Haig, Reasons to stay alive

Look after yourself

Comparing yourself to others is one of the most unhelpful things you can do in life.
Nick Soper

I know my mental health issues haven’t got to an extremely serious point when compared to other people - I’ve never had a panic attack, I can leave the house on my own, I’ve never contemplated suicide - but that does not mean that my own problems aren’t worthy of my attention.

I remember Scroobius Pip making this point in one of his podcasts and it really stuck with me.

It might be true that there is always someone worse off than yourself, but if you broke your toe you probably wouldn’t avoid getting it treated just because there are people in the world who have broken their back!

We shouldn’t consider issues with the mind to be any less worthy of treatment than issues with the body.

Your problems are worthy of your attention!

Have conversations - Reduce stigma

Words - spoken or written - are what connect us to the world, and so speaking about it to people, and writing about this stuff, helps connect us to each other, and our true selves.
Matt Haig, Reasons to stay alive

niksoper.github.io/revealjs-burnout