6 comments

[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 21.2 ms ] thread
Take care of yourself. This sounds like depression - seek help. Respect yourself and tell those thoughts saying that other people "have it worse" that whether or not that's true, you deserve to be happy.

What you're going through is normal and OK. Reward yourself with little things and accept that something has gone wrong. If you had a cold that lasted a year, you would see a doctor. That's what this is. Lack of motivation and loss of interest in things you used to love is a physical ailment. It may not seem like it, because no one else can see it, but it is.

Accept the fact that noticing these bad feelings is not self-pity. It is genuine concern that something is wrong and you are rightly worried. It's OK.

That's the first step I took in fighting my depression. It's damned difficult to do. But you reached out, and that probably was pretty difficult too. I believe you're up for it.

Take care of yourself. Respect the fact that you deserve to be happy. Reach out to professionals, and friends and family if you can.

We're a community that takes mental health seriously, because there is nothing more important for the type of work we do than having a clear and focused head.

Take care. <3

(comment deleted)
wendybeth already gave a very good answer.

I'd like to add: are you burned out? When was the last holiday when you didn't touch anything technical? How long did it last? How much have you been working lately?

(comment deleted)
Burnout can be surprisingly hard to recognise. If you've not taken a holiday in a long time, that's a risk factor. And demotivation, like the sort you've described, is a common symptom.

If you can, you should really try to take a holiday. Does your university allow you to take a semester off? Do you have funds to cope with time off? If you can, I'd do just that. If you can't, what about taking a few weeks off informally?

Sounds a lot like burnout, which I have had serious cases of in jobs that demanded a lot in terms of effort and appearance. I would add that since you are so close to graduating, would you be able to tone down the 'extracurricular' stuff (socializing/networking/github stuff) to conserve energy for the work that is required to graduate? The reason is, once you do get that degree, you can take some time off (if you can afford it monetarily) without having an impact on your career opportunities. However, an unfinished degree will come back to haunt you until you get it done (both in terms of employment prospects and your own satisfaction of having it done). Depression and burn out go hand in hand, and have similar symptoms. Best of luck.