Your an interesting dude hvert , enjoy reading your posts . Probably absolutely nothing in common , but a kindred spirit where this is concerned . It is that sustained , decades long experience . The biggest risk factor is you don't burn out like other people . You keep going , drive through it . Others burnout and recover perhaps . You pushed through those barriers , ignored the suffering , showed incredible mental strength . Then it got to a point your mind rebelled out of self preservation . When you get to that point there's no " refresh yourself and come back the same " . You have my greatest respect for the effort and mental toughness you have displayed over your work career .
Here's one of my nutter paragraphs for you hvert ... during the Second World War there were many German fighter aces who fought through the war amassing massive air to air combat victories . By 1944 many of them had cracked from the constant battle fatigue . The Allies rotated their pilots . The Germans were in it for the duration , till they died or their mind failed . Adolf Galland ( 103 air victories ) took over a small compliment of jet fighters ( the worlds first jet fighter ) he combed the fatigue hospitals , he spoke to others that had cracked and convinced them to swap their hospital clothes for their combat uniform again . There were many of these few . It would take a box of beer to tell you about all of them . One was Walter Kaprinski (176 air victories ) he was a legendary combat pilot , but then it became too much after years of unbearable effort ,he started to be known for calling in fake issues with his aircraft and returning to base . He left the fatigue hospital with Galland and joined JV44 . War is stupid , but it's not about war . It's about a few honourable high achievers who burnt themselves out to a point their mind failed and was never the same again . They found comfort and a purpose by banding together as a unit . You would make a good member of JV44 hvert , and I'd be honoured to fly as your wingman .