My Job Is Destroying My Mental Health...but the Pay Is Great.
Cosmopolitan US|July - August 2023
Our advice columnist, therapist Minaa B., on what happens when your financial well-being comes at too high a price.
By Minaa B.
My Job Is Destroying My Mental Health...but the Pay Is Great.

Dear Minaa,

Most of my career has been temp work zero benefits, measly pay-but now I have a permanent position and it's a major relief. I'm an administrative assistant at a hospital and I love the job. But my boss? An unbelievable micromanager. When I'm knocking out paperwork, she asks for updates every hour until it's in her hands. And she continues to monitor my every move, despite regularly acknowledging that I'm a hard worker. It has started to make me doubt my abilities. It's not just me-other colleagues have started pushing back, challenging her authority on the daily, and things have gotten heated.

What sucks even more is that those coworkers aren't great either. They have been here for years and are super cliquey. I gathered the courage to ask three of them out to lunch, and they each gave me a separate excuse and declined. At noon, I watched them leave together for the cafeteria. It sounds so high school, but I was really bummed out.

My mental health has taken a serious hit with all this-yet I'm making the best money of my professional life. I've of course interviewed elsewhere...but nowhere that pays as much. Should I stick it out for the money or GTFO?

This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Cosmopolitan US.

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This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Cosmopolitan US.

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