ABSTRACT
As a software designer, John frequently received accolades from his superiors for his creativity and willingness to work long hours. It was not at all uncommon for John to be found working late into the night and, at age 34, he would laughingly joke with his friends about the similarity of this work to pulling all-nighters in college when preparing for exams. Sleeping for a few hours on his office couch restored him and he would be back at the computer early the next morning. John’s co-workers often perceived him as somewhat eccentric, but this was not unusual for persons doing the work he did. He had always had occasional bouts of irritability and when these bouts began to increase, they were attributed to the stress of his workload. His supervisor encouraged him to take time off, but John resisted, saying he had too much work to do.
