I guess this is not necessarily a dev question but ...

To those who had a burnout / depression how did you manage to pull through ? How long was the process for you ?

The only thing that works for me is to let the burnout be.

Actually I am here to seek solution (if you don't mind)

Had depression and got therapy.

What helped me best was to look after myself, allow myself to be lazy sometimes, try new hobbies, sports and regularly go completely offline in free time.

Took me more than a year to recover. A shit job (well paid, but shit job nonetheless) with an unmaintainable codebase and no willingness to improve it plus a dickhead CEO absolutely destroyed any desire to touch any code. Took a long break, traveled a bit, permanently left the country that burned me out.

I studied other things and tried to switch occupations to something that wouldn't make suicide look like a reasonable alternative. Ended back in after a year and a half due to a part time job, and somehow managed to enjoy it again. Deadlines are still my curse though.

My suggestion is to take a break if you can afford it. Go do literally anything else for a month or so, and forget about it. You may discover interesting things about yourself or your surroundings. Then think about what you initially liked about programming. Hopefully you can do something that more properly fits that.

Thank you for your answers they’re insightful!

To clarify a bit I’m in a tough spot at the moment, I’m at the point where I can’t be productive anymore be it work life or free time... I’ve been considering taking a break like you mentioned, the problem is that I cannot take a break right now due to the fact it’s on too short notice. In fact my demands have been refused...

I’ve also considered quitting but no can do as well as if I quit I don’t have any plans to sustain myself and nobody can help me financially unfortunately.

I feel like I’ve done everything to stay positive, from life habits like sport, food to hobbies like music production and keeping in contact daily with friends.

I guess what I’m trying to ask here is what would you do if you were in my place ? How would you deal with it ?
Thank you again for answering

@Earu Did you try professional therapy sessions?

Someone very close to me suffered from depression for years and the therapy helped them a lot.

go and work on a farm for a few months. After that you will be gratefull and you will appreciate your life you have.

I'll second what @Cero and @DirtEffect said. Get professional therapy if you can or at least go to a session to see if it'll help you. I don't have it myself but many close friends of mine suffer from both burnout and depression and professional help helped them more than anything else.

At some time I'm tired being depressed and then continue programming, then depressed again. The cycle goes on indefinitely.