Staying at a job you hate might seem like a stress factor that you just have to deal with. But it can put a serious strain on your physical and mental well-being. Quitting a job you find unsatisfying is not just about giving up something that makes you feel bad, it’s also about taking care of your health.
Constant Frustrations Can Lead to Chronic Depression
Every person goes through some up and downs when it comes to their mood. Occasional depressive episodes are normal, no matter how difficult it may be to deal with them.
However, if left unattended, they can eventually turn into chronic depression. Chronic depression tends to stick with you. The downtime between one major depressive episode and another can become shorter, and the intensity of low can become much more powerful.
Going to an unsatisfying job on a daily basis is going to keep in a constant state of negativity. If you don’t do something to improve the situation as soon as possible, though there are ways in which you can improve some of the symptoms, such as self-hatred, you might not recover fully.
You may be thinking that you have plenty of reasons to feel sad and miserable. But make no mistake about, depression is a real illness. It may be triggered by very real factors, but at some point, you’re going to notice that you no longer need to encounter those triggers to feel depressed.
Keep your eyes peeled for early symptoms. If you find it harder and harder to engage in the activities you once enjoyed, if you have a tendency to assume that goes wrong around you is somehow your fault, or if you feel like you’re never going to be able to pull out of this, it’s high time to take action.
You Can Develop Anxiety Issues
Studies have shown that there is a link between stressful jobs and the development of anxiety issues. Like in the case of depression, any person can expect to have some mild anxieties. But staying in an unpleasant, stressful environment can turn these anxieties into real psychological issues.
Having a job you don’t like and anxiety tend to form a vicious circle. The more stress and pressure you feel at your workplace, the more likely it is that the symptoms of anxiety are going to become more powerful. These issues can spill into your personal life as well, and you may reach a point where the stress of your job never leaves you.
If you’re still somewhat reluctant to quit altogether, consider taking a short break, at least. There are ways you can ask your boss for some time off without affecting their impression of you. Taking a break once in a while is a good idea, even if you’re doing your dream job, let alone one you don’t like.
Stress Can Exacerbate Other Problems
Psychological problems are quite difficult to define. Psychologists tend to define mental issues as those conditions which interfere with a person’s quality of life.
Take for example OCD. Everyone has some small, personal rituals they like to perform in certain situations. It can be something as simple as the way in which you button your shirt, or if you prefer putting on your right sock, or your left sock first.
These quirks are not harmful in any way, and though you may feel slightly frustrated when something gets in the way of your routine, you can usually move on after a couple of minutes.
OCD tends to be associated with a need of control. Everyone wants to feel like they’re in control, at least with respect to some aspects of their life. If you feel like you’re stuck in an unsatisfying job, you’re probably going to feel powerless a lot of the times.
This feeling can make OCD tendencies more pronounced. By repeating a certain set of personal rituals, and increasing their number, your mind is trying to regain the sense of control. These intrusive, unwanted behaviors can become quite paralyzing if you let them flare-up. Unfortunately, often times the more you try to control them, the more violent they get.
Other behaviors that can get worse with stress such as ticks, or other involuntary gestures can become quite irritating as well. Your brain is going to try to do the best it can to make you feel better, but if the problem comes from the outside, it can’t really do much about it.
It Can Affect The Way in Which You Work Later On
Forcing yourself to stay at a job that makes you miserable can have a major on your work ethic in general. The effects can go either way. If you convince yourself to stay, because you believe this shows you are driven and determined, you may end assuming this is the norm.
In this case, you may very well end up never being satisfied with a job again. You’ll be convinced that jobs are supposed to be unsatisfying, and you may actually bury yourself in more work, just to numb down the frustration.
On the other hand, if you start making a habit of dodging work whenever you can, because you don’t feel the job is worth any effort, you might lose your ability to get excited about work forever. Again, this will happen because you’ll developed a coping mechanism that’s going to be difficult to switch off.
If you feel like there are some things you are truly passionate about, invest in them before it’s too late. The world is full of possibilities, and every person is different. There may be people who are perfectly comfortable doing the job you do, and maybe even quite happy to do it. There’s no reason why you should force yourself to stay there.
Leaving a job because it’s unsatisfying might seem like a selfish decision. If the health concerns associated with staying don’t convince, consider the fact that being miserable all the time can also affect the people around. Your friends and loved ones probably feel just as bad when they see constantly frustrated. So, for their sake, as well as yours, you should consider taking a break, and moving on to something better. Otherwise, your whole potential is going to be wasted.
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