How can early detection of burnout and depression help?

The earlier burnout or depression is noticed, the more options there are to help: adjusting workload, changing how work is organized, or getting professional support before the problem becomes severe. That's why short, regular check-ins work better than a long survey once or twice a year.

What is Office Harmony?

Office Harmony is a burnout-aware employee experience (EX) software developed at Responsly. It focuses on occupational burnout, a problem that is growing as AI, fear of losing a job and constant change put more pressure on people at work.

Why is mental health monitoring important in the workplace?

While it's normal to check on employee mental health in high-stake professions like pilots or special forces, it's sadly not the norm in regular office jobs. Employees and people are mostly left alone with their mental problems, which is what needs to change. Early detection and intervention can prevent serious mental health crises.

How does ADHD relate to depression and burnout?

ADHD can contribute to difficulties in personal relationships and work performance, which may lead to depression and burnout if not properly managed. It also makes it easy to get completely absorbed in interesting work and ignore your limits. Being diagnosed and having access to medication and support can be life-changing, opening a new chapter where you can be happier and more functional.

How can you avoid burnout when you have ADHD?

Learn your patterns and pace yourself. With ADHD, it's easy to get completely absorbed in work, so set limits, plan breaks, notice when one more task turns into overwork, and treat rest as part of the work. Working in short, focused intervals, like with the Pomodoro technique, can also help.

My ADHD, depression and work burnout

Q: What are the statistics on burnout and mental health issues in the workplace?

In a Gallup study of nearly 7,500 full-time employees, 23% said they feel burned out at work very often or always, and another 44% sometimes. In the American Psychological Association's 2025 Work in America survey, 54% of workers said job insecurity has a significant impact on their stress levels at work, and 38% worry that AI may make some or all of their job duties obsolete.

I want to share a story with you. It’s about my work, ADHD, burnout and depression. Public discussion about mental health is growing each year, but it’s still less popular than a new tweet from Elon Musk. The statistics regarding burnout are alarming: in a Gallup study of nearly 7,500 full-time employees, 23% said they feel burned out at work very often or always, and another 44% sometimes. However, awareness of these issues is not equal across the world, and I believe that these numbers may get worse in the coming years.

For a long time, I didn’t know what was going on

For most of my life, I didn’t know what was going on with me. As a kid, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia, and I had problems with focus and behavior, but nobody connected the dots. I simply thought that this was who I am and that I had to push harder than others.

Before my diagnosis, I was trying to figure out my personal problems by going to therapy. We discussed my issues with personal relationships, but after a few months, the conclusion was that I’m just different and need to find someone who is perfect for me. There was no assumption that there might be another problem. Now I see that my difference is partly due to ADHD, and many of the problems in my life are a result of that.

It’s funny for me to say that, because a year before my diagnosis, I told my friend that I thought he had ADHD without even considering that I could have it too. I didn’t want to be the kind of person who diagnoses everyone around them, but when I see that information could benefit my friends, I will say it.

A late ADHD diagnosis at 35

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 35. Being diagnosed and having access to medication is not everything, but it’s a lot! For me, it opened another chapter in my life where I can be happier. Before the diagnosis, I wrote about the tricks I use to keep focus at work with ADHD.

How I burned out at work

With ADHD, when something really interests me, I go all in. Work was exactly that. I kept getting pulled deeper and deeper: one more task, one more evening, one more weekend. It felt like passion, not a problem. Until the moment I simply had enough and there was nothing left in me. That was burnout, and depression came along with it.

The World Health Organization describes burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Mental health has been my passion for the past couple of years. I got into that field because of the work burnout and depression that I suffered, and I know that the first step in this fight is awareness.

Now I can pace myself

Today, I know my patterns and I can pace myself. I still love my work, and I still dive in deep, but I know when to stop. I plan breaks, I watch for the moment when “one more task” turns into “one more week”, and I treat rest as part of the work, not a reward for finishing it.

Responsly and Office Harmony

I consider myself very fortunate in life. I run a successful internet business that solves problems for many customers. Since 2011, I have been building interankiety, a tool for creating surveys. In 2022, we took it international as Responsly, a customer and employee experience management platform. In simple terms, Responsly helps you understand your customers and employees by asking the right questions at the right time and analyzing the data.

At Responsly, we created a new approach to Employee Experience management. It combines standard metrics such as employee satisfaction, engagement, and effort, with early detection of burnout and depression. While it is normal to check on employee mental health in some occupations, such as pilots, special forces, or other high-stake professions, it is sadly not the norm in normal office jobs. We often measure employee performance and satisfaction, and when there is a problem, we ask them to work better or throw some benefits at them. In general, employees and people are mostly left alone with their mental problems. This is what we aim to change.

We ask employees a few questions every one or two weeks. Surveys are not always the same; they adapt to the employee’s current state. If we detect something, we’ll check on that in upcoming weeks. If we conclude that there is a risk of burnout or depression, we notify the appropriate parties. This allows measures to be taken before the problem becomes too advanced, when it’s still much easier to help.

Today, at Responsly, we’re developing Office Harmony, a burnout-aware Employee Experience software. It focuses on the problem of occupational burnout, and this problem keeps growing. AI, fear of losing a job, and constant change put more and more pressure on people at work. In the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Work in America survey, 38% of workers said they worry AI may make some or all of their job duties obsolete, and 54% said job insecurity has a significant impact on their stress levels at work.

Dyfna, my side project for self-reflection

On the side, I’m also building Dyfna, an app for working on self-reflection. It uses journaling, habit and mood tracking to help you notice how you feel and what drains you, before it turns into something bigger.

If you’re interested in Office Harmony or just want to talk about burnout, please contact us via www.responsly.com or e-mail me at [email protected].