What makes you believe that it's not possible to recover from burnout in a few days? I'm reading "The Feeling Good Handbook" (David D. Burns) and p173 talks about a man who suffered from a serious depression that had threatened to ruin his business for quite some time and was steadily getting worse. Apparently he recovered from his depression within a week after after his session.
Obviously I'm not claiming this happens with all patients (it's taken me 4.5 months to move from "severe depression" on the BDC to "normal but unhappy"), but I don't understand why you're so convinced the poster wasn't suffering from a real and debilitating condition that - from his description of it - significantly decreased the quality of his life.
I'd also like to suggest the possibility that the OP may not have recovered at all, but have simply found some temporary respite. I see this from time to time on Facebook with people I know who are suffering from depression but who haven't received (or worked on) proper treatment - they'll post non-stop about how great everything is, how awesome the world is... and then they'll crash. They haven't addressed the underlying causes of their depression, they've simply found a temporary distraction from it.
Partly from watching other people go through it, partly from getting close to it myself a few times. I recently finished writing a book, while working full time and helping to run my wife's web business. Oh and two kids. I just got back from two weeks holiday, and that wasn't anywhere near enough, but it'll do for now.
Burnout is typically caused by long, relentless periods of overwork and stress, and takes an similarly long time to get over. And yes, it is quite possible the OP is not recovered from his burnout, but I'd rather not see people claiming that it's possible to recover from it by having a couple of days on a beach somewhere. There are enough heroics in IT as it is.
Obviously I'm not claiming this happens with all patients (it's taken me 4.5 months to move from "severe depression" on the BDC to "normal but unhappy"), but I don't understand why you're so convinced the poster wasn't suffering from a real and debilitating condition that - from his description of it - significantly decreased the quality of his life.
I'd also like to suggest the possibility that the OP may not have recovered at all, but have simply found some temporary respite. I see this from time to time on Facebook with people I know who are suffering from depression but who haven't received (or worked on) proper treatment - they'll post non-stop about how great everything is, how awesome the world is... and then they'll crash. They haven't addressed the underlying causes of their depression, they've simply found a temporary distraction from it.