I have been a social worker, with a bachelor’s degree, and I’ve worked with addics, mentally disabled kids, and LGBTQ* youth (three different jobs, not an all-in-one situation) for years. Had a massive burnout once my private situation went down the drain (not going into detail here) and once I had somewhat recovered, I decided to switch professions as I don’t think I’ll be able to shoulder that kind of responsibility again without being crushed under the pressure again. I have huge respect for people who manage to handle these jobs for years without going insane, but I am just not able to do that anymore.

I’ve been working as a cashier in a supermarket since then, but the notion of being responsible for everyone’s mental wellbeing is so massively hardwired into my brain that I often have to remind myself that things like misbehaving kids running amok in the aisles, customers chatting with me about their private problems, or overworked/understaffed coworkers not being able to cope with their workload are NOT my responsibility and that I should NOT volunteer to help others out if I don’t have the time and energy for it and NOT give customers/coworkers advice for their private issues. I always automatically have the urge to “help” and often need to actively resist it for my own mental wellbeing.

Sometimes I honestly envy people with a healthy amount of egoism, and I do not mean that in a sarcastic way.