The funniest take from the 'don't quit a bad job' take is that of 'mental health'

Have you asked someone who has no job and financially stressed what toll it takes on their mental health?

I can bet which scenario causes more anguish.

That however depends on where in the world you live.

Beeing unemployed and having for example 3 months time for yourself at hand, to question and self reflect what's important in your life, can be an invaluable life experience.
But then again it depends what wellfare systems are in place. And where's none this is sadly not viable.

Depends how rich you are. I could pay mortgage 5 times over with 1 pay check... As I imagine most devs can.

@craig939393 I wish, gonna be a while before I can even afford a house

@YADU my advice is read books mate. Good start is head first design patterns (1st edition is just as good as second and cheaper I think), clean code, and domain driven design by Eric Evans.

I read those books (and others but to a lesser degree) and accelerated my career by years. Most devs don't learn proper design skills so it becomes super easy to stand out and apply for higher paid jobs.

@craig939393 what's your stack? you seem to be very versatile in programming... I also agree that most programmers I have met don't read much.

@craig939393 I've already got a good job, the problem is more that house prices are fucking ridiculous.

Even a condo is insane where I live.

@Meetife

Financial trouble will always be a problem....

Depending on country, there are unemployment checks and free health care. If there is no support system I would honestly expect people to take preemptive measures...
(How would you survive otherwise Oo)

The danger of staying in a job despite becoming mentally unstable and health issues is that there is a certain point where the damage is permanently.

I've experienced this myself and - as I work in management - I had to talk about this topic with a few coworkers, too.

I mean permanent as in unrecoverable.

E.g. some people start out a whole new life - because they cannot cope with the job anymore. Others go into early retirement - as they were officially declared being unable to work for the rest of their live.

I'm not saying it must be this bad - some people really recover after an extended period of vacancy.

But that's exactly the problem: Most managers don't grant the sabbatical or an extended period of vacancy (5 - 6 weeks, then slowly starting with part time).

And it's a very complicated matter - as the employee has to talk to the employer, and the employer has to trust the employee...

Either way. The financial trouble is always there - either because you're unemployed, because you cannot pay the health bills or because you don't get unemployment checks as you were fired...

Depending on country it might look a bit less dark, but all in all it's the kind of fuckity I wish noone would have to endure.

@Meetife I us d to be LAMP but now .net and angular.

@IntrusionCM This.

@Meetife
If what you’re doing is keeping you alive but consistently injuring you, you don’t stay and attempt to “power through” the injuries. At some point they become permanent and you are no longer able to survive that way.

Burnout is a mental injury, and really no different from a physical one. You need time to recover and heal.

I burned out from game dev. I put in my 60-80 hour weeks, regularly, for 12 years. (Look up crunch if you’re not familiar.) The result? Absolute, complete, epic-level burnout. I still write small games for my own enjoyment occasionally, but I am only able to because I’ve spent well over a decade doing something else. The idea of working at a game studio again? Despite loving the field many times more than any other, I don’t think I can take it again. Maybe in another ten years, but I really don’t think so.

Past a certain point, burnout becomes terminal, and I mean that very literally. It persists until the very end — your very end.

If you continually injure your knee, at some point it will never recover again. Mental injuries are no different, just more difficult to see and diagnose.

@Root I agree to most of your points... But you missed the context - "no job and financially stress..." Having no way to pay the bill for a long time can ruin one's mental health and self perception in compare to...

@Meetife If there’s a will, there’s a way. Sometimes working at a deli is a better option than at a “better” job that’s killing you.