Is it normal to feel really depressed after a streesful work deadline?

I haven't usually been under pressure much in my work. I usually meet my deadlines without too many problems. But once I was struggling to meet a deadline in a project. It was one thing that truly had me stumped and even though I got it done JUST in time, being under that sort of last minute pressure spiralled me into a depression for a while. is it normal that I reacted to my work like this? I feel maybe I haven't chosen the right path in life... I don't hate what I do but I don't want to feel that sort of pressure again. It caused many, many problems for me at the time.

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76% Normal
Based on 33 votes (25 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • robbieforgotpw

    Strees sucks

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  • dappled

    I have worked under intolerable stress to meet deadlines in my current job. I worked nine months with only a day or two off per month. I worked 16 hour days minimum and often worked 36 hour spells without a break. I often went to work Monday morning having really started work mid-Saturday and having not slept.

    The above was the worst but there were still lots of smaller projects that required me to go beyond what most people will do. I survived each one on adrenaline, not showing any signs of tiredness or degradation. And each time a project came to an end, I fell into a slump. The bigger the project, the bigger the slump.

    My first boss in this job had been under intolerable (and largely self-inflicted) stress for just over a decade when he took early retirement. A couple of weeks in, his body collapsed severely and it's taken him two years to recover.

    The body is an amazing thing. It can keep you going above the levels it should be doing. But there's always a price to pay in the end. You yourself have had a very real example of that. Take care of yourself, yeah?

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    • Mmmpfh

      I don't think I'll ever be willing to those kind of hours.
      I don't enjoy work, and I doubt I'll ever be a workaholic so I don't think I could ever sanely manage hose kind of hours without deteriorating myself

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      • dappled

        It can sneak up on you. I do enjoy my work very much but I'm not a workaholic. But the sector I'm in is so pressurised at the moment and we're shedding jobs like raindrops. I'm always one paypacket away from homelessness. I have no means of support beyond my own efforts. I can't take risks with my job status, even if it affects my health. It's a reality for many of us in this sector.

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        • Mmmpfh

          I guess many of us have to work hard to get out of that style of work. Where we can be financially secure in a more laid-back job later in life.

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  • Captain_Kegstand

    I work an extremely stressful, performance and deadline driven job. It has gotten to me the way that your job has gotten to you so I think its normal.

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  • NeuroNeptunian

    It's called stress and it happens to the best of us.

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  • CheyChey

    I can identify with what you're saying though i don't go to work i'm a university student and i'm always stressed to meet deadlines for bunch of assignments and when it's close to the deadline i feel numb like my mind can't take it anymore and get a bit depressed i'll keep sayin to myself "i'm unable" after i meet the deadline you'd think i'd be ecstatic but i don't feel a thing. if you feel you've chosen the wrong career path why not change it easier said than done but you won't know till you try.

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