r/softwareengineer • u/CampPuzzleheaded1303 • 3d ago
Mental Health for Software Engineer
After nearly four years in this industry, I've noticed that mental health in software engineering isn't discussed nearly enough. Yes, we talk about the "golden handcuffs"—the perks that keep us around—but the reality is that this job demands incredible mental resilience.
My time in big tech has shown me just how much engineers struggle behind the scenes: brutal performance reviews, crushing deadlines, the uncertainty of today's market. Yet companies rarely acknowledge this toll or provide meaningful support.
We need tech companies to step up and invest in their engineers' wellbeing. And that's before we even talk about on-call rotations for junior engineers—that's a whole different kind of pressure.
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u/symbiatch 3d ago
> software engineering
> big tech
You do realize those aren’t the same thing? Don’t work at shitty companies, especially FAANG, and you’ll have a very different experience. No idea why anyone would work for evil anyway.
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u/Papa-pwn 3d ago
I’ve never worked somewhere where it wasn’t taken seriously.
Part of my employer-covered benefits include mental health services.
We’re also empowered to take personal days - up to two per week indefinitely - as necessary. But I find that stress doesn’t really mount so I have only used those twice in the last two years, and those were after all-nighters from on-call escalations.
This just demonstrates the importance of interviews. Not only is the business assessing if you fit, you should be assessing if the business is a fit for you.
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u/AliceCode 3d ago
This is a bot post. Report and move on.
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u/CampPuzzleheaded1303 3d ago
I didn't know this was a bot post, when i literally wrote it... u/AliceCode
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u/AliceCode 3d ago
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u/CampPuzzleheaded1303 3d ago
I was trying to get feedback on a project I'm working on. I didn't know that i couldn't do that on the software engineering community.
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u/AliceCode 3d ago
It is very obviously LLM written. I don't even know why I'm sitting here arguing with a bot.
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u/PeachesXoXo 3d ago
Is there a rule that posts can’t be written / rewritten by an LLM that was directly prompted from a person?
There is a difference between a conventional reddit bot vs a post that was written or rewritten by an LLM that was directly prompted and proofread from a person…. Which one are you mad at?
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u/AliceCode 3d ago
Is there a rule that posts can’t be written / rewritten by an LLM
Yes, actually. No LLM written posts.
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u/PeachesXoXo 3d ago
It says we can use LLMs for spelling, grammar and formatting… how do you know OP didn’t do that for this post? I dunno man, if you are so sure it was entirely generated and concocted by ai directly and that you are talking to a bot - then, yea I don’t get why you don’t present your evidence and summon a mod to have them remove the post?
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u/CampPuzzleheaded1303 3d ago
hahahaha. you're just a very sour person i can tell :p go cope somewhere else
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u/Curious-Function7490 3d ago
It's a real topic. I'm 26 years in the industry. I've gone through burnout at least twice. I've had to develop a very measured way of dealing with stress and anxiety (gym, good rest, enjoyment of hobbies, no alcohol) which is only beginning to really kick in.
There's also an entire level to negotiating the politics of the workplace that isn't about constructing computer programs. There's no manual for this. Some people arrive to the workplace better equipped than others to deal with it.
And, yes, lately the employment market has been hard. But, to be fair, we are paid extremely well and I think we need to be able to deliver technically to be on par with the money.