[thomas_eh]

I don't think it's a recognition; at least I don't see that big of a difference to other professions/life styles, etc). There may be an element of solitude, based on how many like minded people are in your life, but I think that goes for alot of other professions as well (e.g. medicine)

My own theory (at least about myself) is that being a programmer, I spent at least half of my day looking at complex systems trying to figure out what is wrong.

Don't get me wrong Programming can be an incredibly rewarding experience...literally creating using primarily pure thought is about as close to "creative" as you can get.

But regardless how how rewarding it can be at times (when you get to marvel at the solution / result), the actual process and significant amounts of time revolve around solving problems. Essentially we spend most of our day focusing on negative facts, trying to figure out whats wrong.

When walking around the real world focusing largely on what is wrong, these thought patterns however are not nearly as effective as when dealing with, albeit complex, well defined logical structures. So not only does focusing on negative things itself introduce depressing thoughts and emotions, but the inability to find "real solution" to problems in the real world the way you do when programming can also be frustrating.