Absolutely! This time around, I am not running to therapy and psychiatrists because I'm depressed because I've been through that before and its never helped. Instead, I'm seeing any depression I have as an outgrowth of this frustrating process I've described, the core reason for my depression all of my life, in retrospect, which has gone almost completely unacknowledged and untreated.

So, yes, I'm liking the burnout hypothesis much more for myself these days. In addition, I actually DON'T feel depressed most of the time except as a result of a realistic look at my situation (fuck CBT).

My problem with burnout is that there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it. I spent years on dsability before without getting anywhere until a faint hope of normal life ignited a small enough fire that I could start working again. But maybe things will be better because the whole trying to treat depression was an enormous boondoggle, an enormous waste of effort and cause of shame and failure (not to mention all the meds probably blunted my affect, making it harder to find joy).