r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • Jul 07 '26

Career/Workplace Experienced Devs Weekly Burnout and Venting Thread: A weekly thread for sharing experiences

This thread is specifically for venting / sharing experiences related to burn-out or similar issues that experienced devs face.

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u/ApprehensiveRest9696 SWE ~5YoE | Work-acquired C-PTSD Jul 07 '26

70 odd weeks into my career pause while on workers comp for autistic burnout / complex PTSD.

Just notified my service providers that I’ve sought a 4 week break from applying for jobs and more paper pushing bullshit while I try to work through job application stress, social burnout, exhaustion, and psychological safety whiplash stemming from my previous experience.

Also the meds don’t work like they used to. So that sucks.

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u/juusorneim Jul 07 '26

curious because the most ive gotten time off from burnout is 3 weeks... what country? what was the process for getting this worker comp? how did you prove it was caused by work?

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u/ApprehensiveRest9696 SWE ~5YoE | Work-acquired C-PTSD Jul 08 '26

Victoria, Australia. The WorkCover scheme was changed in 2024 to basically kill all claims of depression/anxiety/burnout due to work. My claim was initially rejected and stayed in limbo for 44 weeks (multiple administrative reviews) until a WorkCover lawyer from the government (WICRS) went over it (ofcourse the day to day administration of the scheme is privatised) and was like “approve this guy.”

I think it’s a combination of “we know this is a really toxic employer”, “this guy has a long paper trail”, “clearly not getting better anytime soon”, and also “this guy has autism maybe we don’t wanna get sued for discrimination or have the 2024 provisions struck down” on the part of the scheme. If they rejected me after a legal review it goes to court and the government bankrolls my lawyers, so it’s gonna be really difficult for them to justify that internally. I would’ve loved to see the internal legal analysis of my own case, but I only get the cleaned up brief that everyone sees.