Burnout and Mental Health
&gt; I was used to being scared of being fired-- not that long ago, I&#x27;d been scraping by, had a hard time finding work. I didn&#x27;t fully realize that I had more power now as a programmer. I didn&#x27;t think about power struggles-- how other people did go home, but because they took the risk of standing up for themselves.<p>This is a real part of burnout--the realization that as employee #3422 you don&#x27;t have much bargaining power. But I came to the opposite conclusion to the author&#x27;s.<p>You either work to burnout levels or they&#x27;ll just replace you with someone who will. I used to be a really cocky 20-something programmer, not afraid of getting fired or laid off--until it happened! Ending up about a month from insolvency gives you a realistic perspective on the power imbalance between you and your employer. Combine that with having a family to support, and you become much more willing to go into the &quot;burnout zone&quot; in order to keep the bills paid.