My Soul-Crushing Job

How a Profit-Driven Healthcare System Nearly Broke Me

I used to dread getting up in the morning. The weight of the impending workday would settle in my stomach, a knot of anxiety tightening with each passing hour.

In his 2018 book about the exploitation of neurochemistry by corporations, The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brain, pediatrician Dr. Robert Lustig wrote:

“There are jobs that make you feel good about yourself, and others that destroy your self-esteem. If your job or your boss:

1. Disconnects you from your values — for instance, pitting the bottom line against the quality of work
2. Takes you for granted
3. Requires pointless or redundant work
4. Treats people unfairly
5. Overrides your better judgement
6. Isolates or marginalizes people
7. Puts people in harm's way — physically or emotionally

Then you have a job that will generate significant unhappiness.”

Having often attributed my departure from my previous job to my own failings, this insight finally helped me justify my exit without self-blame. My old job at a for-profit healthcare corporation met every one of these criteria — no wonder I felt compelled so fervently to leave.