I think his health benefits would get cut during this time. And can you really get 2 years off work for being burned out? I have no idea, but my understanding is you need some serious doctor notes to get classified as disabled.
If one is still sick after 1 year one can apply for permanent disability. Permanent disability will probably be around 66% of one’s previous salary, but no less then 25 000$ per year and no more then 65 000$ per year. One can additional apply for some special benefits like housing subsidy, child benefits etc if needed.
The important thing here is I didn't do ANYTHING AT ALL that week. Sure, I cleaned the house, went biking, and generally stopped to smell the roses, but I made sure not to write a line of code, look at code or even think about code that whole week. When you're burned out, your body and mind shut down. Being able to re-engage your brain and body properly and give them the break they deserve does wonders.
Even having a week just to shutdown and restart over does amazing things for your mind and body. you don't need a year to recoup and get going again.
I've always found it odd that the USA only gives two weeks annual holiday (plus public holidays). Someone finding a new job just to get a week off seems really inefficient - it probably takes months for their replacement to be hired an up to speed. Easier to give the current employee time off.
Although all my permanent jobs have been in the UK with four or five weeks annual leave plus bank holidays.
This is a very ungenerous interpretation of the article. Did you read it or just skimmed it? It's very clear that he is in a far better place now. The books he mentions are just a few that he found useful along the way, nothing wrong about that.