[gtirloni]

Seek professional help. Meds or therapy might help. Don't face this alone.

And no, don't tell your boss. If they haven't noticed your burnout by now, it'll only make them be super critical of everything you do. Yes, bosses can be friends but it's a new job, I doubt you have bonded that strongly already (or you wouldn't be asking this question here in the first place).

[krolden]

I love how its a normal thing to drug someone up just so they can cope with going to a job that is making them feel like shit.

[onemoresoop]

Is there a choice though? If people can't afford a break, often at the expense of losing the current position they have no choice but to slug through and swim back to the surface. I bet that if the industry had a mandatory one month time off this problem would almost disappear.

[jollyllama]

Agreed, but the old school approach was to smoke during the day and drink in the evening. "Pick your poison."

[thorin]

Actually drinking in the day at least from 12 noon was pretty acceptable too about 20yrs ago. Large companies often had a management bar in the UK. Office staff had a drinks cabinet.

[gtirloni]

You're assuming the job is the root cause. Please refrain from dispensing medical advice in an online forum.

[sahila]

Op is not assuming the job is the root cause. Clearly in this case the poster is stressed by their job, and it isn't giving them more energy than they begin with; it’s the reason they said they don't have vacation but otherwise would like a break.

So in this case, a user is suggesting taking drugs to continue to slough through work.

[gtirloni]

No, a user is suggesting seeking professional advice for the poster's situation and then lists two options that maybe can help.

Why don't you focus on the suggestion to do therapy instead? Not as outraging, I suppose.

You and op are reacting as if someone suggested the poster should be drugged out of their mind, maybe with saliva dripping from their face, completely numb to reality vs. just quitting the job.

Both a false dichotomy and a lot of assumptions.

[carterschonwald]

Yeah. Depression is the real burnout. Brain fog is depression. Talk with a doctor.

[barbazoo]

> If they haven't noticed your burnout by now, it'll only make them be super critical of everything you do.

This is just not universally true! Many managers out there are compassionate and understanding. Makes me sad to imagine where some of y'all work that you feel that way.

[gtirloni]

Read the full paragraph again.

[barbazoo]

Managers can be both compassionate and understanding even if you're not friends

[Overtonwindow]

Your boss is NOT your friend. Just because you work well with someone doesn’t mean they are your friend. It is a grave mistake to confuse work colleagues as friends.

[rob74]

Maybe the last bit is overly harsh - colleagues can become friends, and maybe also your boss, but I wouldn't trust my boss with this info either after only a few months. I mean, if this is supposed to be your dream job, and you already lack the motivation to put in the work after such a short time, even if they like you as a person, that might give them doubts about how you would fit in in the future. OTOH, if your boss has already noticed, saying something along the lines of "I'm actually really glad I have this job, it's my personal situation etc. that's bringing me down, but I'm working on it" (even if it's not 100% true) might be a good idea...

[thomastjeffery]

Logical operators are failing us in this discussion, so I'll try restructuring it:

Your boss can be your friend, and prioritize their job over your friendship.

It's easy to get into a social position where we place too much trust into friendship driving the decisions people make.

Like you said, replacing that trust with distrust can block you, not only from the negative opportunities we want to avoid (like your boss firing you for burnout), but also the positive opportunities (like your boss helping you overcome the burnout).

It would be really convenient if either one of these choices (trust vs. distrust) was a clear winner, but it looks like neither of them is intrinsically better.

The silver lining is that your relationship with your boss isn't the only or most important relationship your can have. Even if you don't have the opportunity to get help from your boss to deal with your burnout, you can still seek help from others. Some people, like trained therapists, are well equipped and motivated to help.

[svnt]

Your boss can only be your friend to the degree they either don’t need their job or don’t perceive it to be at risk.