The 9-5 and Mental Health

I think a lot of us would agree, 9-5 jobs are just not meant for those who struggle with their mental health. Especially those who suffer with anxiety and depression. I suffer with anxiety disorder and major depression, and let me tell you, a 9-5 job would kill me. Literally. Let me tell you a little story.

My first job was at a hair salon as a hair stylist. At first I thought this would be something I would enjoy because it's creative. Little did I realize the criticism that comes along with it. With someone with anxiety disorder, this was a very bad combination. There was days when I would run to the bathroom and cry. It didn't help that when I came home and talked about it that my family told me that every job was like this and I just had to "grow thick skin". Sorry, but that's not something you say to someone with anxiety.

I didn't work full time, I already knew I wouldn't be able to do that. My anxiety and depression makes me so fatigued some days. Just getting out of bed is a lot of work. But then I was expected to go and interact with people who were critiquing my work constantly. By the fourth hour at work, I was mentally and physically exhausted. My shifts were anywhere from six to eight hours mind you. One time, I was so bad that I had to call out of work for two weeks! And I would constantly have a panic attack everyday before work.

After some time, my mental health started to decline. Not only did I no longer care about work, or anything for that matter, I began to get suicidal thoughts. One day, my mom sat me down and had a very serious discussion with me.

"Tell me truthfully" she said, "Do you enjoy your work?" At that point I broke down and cried.

"No" I told her sobbing, "I've never been happy there. It's killing me to be there". That was the same day I wrote my resignation letter. Since then, I've been severely afraid to get another job. Not that I haven't tried. I did try some other jobs, but again I would panic attack every morning before work.

Have you ever experience this or something similar? The reality is, 9-5 jobs were just not designed for those with anxiety and depression in mind. Many people who suffer with anxiety and or depression end up living with their parents because they can't afford to take care of themselves. So please don't feel bad if you are one of them. You are not alone. So, what do we do about it? How can we become financially independent, while not compromising our mental health?

In today's world, ways of making money has changed drastically. There are many people, young people too, that are making money simply from the internet. And actually, this is not a bad idea. Some of them are content creators, drop shippers, youtubers, marketers, bloggers, business owners, etc. One of the advantages of this is that you become your own boss. You decide when you work and don't work. You decide how long in a day you want to work. You decide when to take a vacation, without the need to ask permission from a manager. I don't know about you, but that sounds really good to me. That would be my dream job.

may be thinking now, okay but where do I start? I would suggest sitting down and really thinking about what really excites you., and what scares you. Then pick an business idea accordingly. For example, showing my face on the internet really triggers me. But I'm also very passionate about mental health. So blogging would be a very good choice for me. Once you figure out how it makes you money, you need to focus on the skill sets. This involves educating yourself. And no you don't need to back to school for this. There are many courses out there you can take. Or there are some people on you-tube, such as Baddie In Business and Sarah Finance that offer free course on their you-tube channels. I personally took a course simply because there was a specific skill set that I needed help one, and that was marketing. After going through the entire course, I highly recommend it if you want to learn about how to market your business. And it's affordable.

"Great!" You say, "I'm quitting my job tomorrow and staring an online business!". Slow down. Businesses take a little bit of work to get going and off the ground. So until your business is sustaining you, I wouldn't recommend just quitting your job. It's like flying a kite. It may take a few tries and some time to get it in the air. But once it is, it's soaring!

So now it's up to you. What path are you going to choose?