tl;dr - Squats and deadlifts make me feel depressed. I don't have the issues at all when I don't squat or deadlift. I'm considering changing routines and goals but I figured I'd look for insight before doing so.

First a few stats to know what I'm working with:

5'7 - 165 pounds
38 years old
Bench max: 225 (performed)
Squat max: ~260 (Wendler calculation)
Deadlift max: 315 (performed)
Physique: average, decent chest and glutes, kinda skinny fat everywhere else
Nutrition: I eat 150g of protein per day and tend to average 2600-2800 calories per day according to MyFitnessPal.
Sleep average: 6.5-7 hours per night

I've been lifting weights since I first started playing football 25 years ago. I've never been competition-level strong, but I've been at the 1000 lb club before. I'm not necessarily going for big levels of strength right now, but I bring that up to say that I'm not a beginner.

I've noticed the past few years some serious issues with how lifting is affecting me. Whenever I lift heavy legs (squat or deadlift), I am irritable, monotonic, "dead," fatigued, depressed - just really down in the dumps. Almost every single time.

It's not a volume issue. I hit my last straw this past Thursday when it happened after 1 set of 3 on squat. I did my mobility warm up, my warm up sets, and planned on doing a 3, 3, 3+ for my working sets on squat. It was my first lift of the morning. I did the first set of 3 and got interrupted. The workout ended and I went about my day. Even though I didn't even complete the workout, I still had the same levels of irritability, fatigue, and malaise as if I did a full workout.

I don't have these issues when I don't lift heavy legs. I run a modified Greyskull kind of program (Squat or Deadlift, Bench or OHP, Bent Over Rows or Pull Ups three days a week) and I do some light jogging on non-lifting days. I jog around 20 minutes during the week and 30-40 minutes on Saturdays. I'm certainly not doing a ton of volume.

I do have mobility issues. It's difficult for me to get parallel on squat even after a 10 minute mobility warm up borrowed from Squat University. My back is always a little rounded on deadlifts. I guess this could be an issue, but I'm not sure it really explains how destroyed I am after lifting. I spend a lot of the week feeling down, and it disappears when I don't lift heavy.

It's to the point that I'm considering giving up lifting heavy all together. Maybe focusing on a calisthenics program or full mobility program. Yoga, Knees Over Toes - something like that. Maybe getting back into running long distance instead of building strength and muscle. Or just doing some generic "middle aged guy in the gym" routine where I lift moderate weight with little linear progression involved and avoid squats and deadlifts all together.

For anyone thinking it's an issue with experience, I've had this issue for 2-3 years. I've tried to work through it. Eat more. Switching routines. It's just getting old.

Any advice or insight? Am I just getting old and becoming a Grade A wuss?