[WheelsAtLarge]

Dev work has a few issues that people find difficult to deal with long term. I'll list a few:

1) Constant deadlines and the pressure that comes with them

2) Group collaboration, many people dislike the lack of control over the project

3) Technical deficits, lack of control over what you deliver.

4) Being in an office all-day, every work day.

Many people can deal with them others may even thrive but not everyone. I suspect that at least one of these items is a problem for you.

If I were you I would look for a completely different type of job and do it for a few months. Call it an extended vacation. It will give you a chance to look at your job from a different prespective. You'll get a better view of what you dislike about your career. Also focus on activities outside work. You can join a club, date more, learn a new hobby or what ever. The idea is to try new things and hopefully you'll find one that you really like.

[_virtu]

I think I'll add one more issue on top of your great points:

Constantly shifting work requirements. It's the fun and draining part of our jobs as engineers. No single task is the same as the last. This is where the job can be exceptionally fun, but it can also be grating over time.

[tducasse]

I'll add "having to deal with broken this more often than working things".

Building a feature? You're basically fighting compilation errors, editor warnings, spelling mistakes, your own incompetence, etc. And once it's working, you stop looking at it: it's shipped, you're off to the next task!

Fixing a bug? You now have to look for something that's broken or, even worse, make it break on purpose. Then you're basically back to the "building a feature" workflow, and off to the next task!

This is what I find the most frustrating, to be honest!