Job Worries with Mental Health Conditions

I'm a design engineer. I think ADHD and my special interests were the only things that got me through uni. I'm terrified to leave my job. (I was an intern...that never left) While my job isn't...supportive of my gender identity...it is supportive of my neurodivergences. Only occasionally do I have to interact with a customer (other professionals), and I get put on many different projects that aren't securely funded. It typically bothers most people to not know if their work is going to go somewhere, but for me, "it all pays the same". And I get to try different tools and learn about many different systems, so it keeps me interested!

Here's a neat thing my partner and I realized recently: a *ton* of neurodivergent people, and especially those that struggle socially, go into accounting and finance! They've never felt so at ease at work before. Even though there are miscommunications, like any other job, there's a noticable lack of...that weird lingering judgemental vibe that NTs give off. They started out as a receptionist for a few different businesses, and now they're being trained to become a full fledged accountant by this company! Everyone is "quirky" there, so there's less pressure to mask as much. I've heard accounting, IT, transport, and all trades are good fields for this! If I had to pick what to avoid...I'd say sales, anything healthcare related, call centers, and management positions. These jobs all have extreme social pressure to them

You can look at my profile and see what I have but finding a job I could stay at for more than 2 months was quite difficult. I have garbage legs and spine so I don’t think full time is ever gonna work for me but I found an amazing job I love. I worked in food (which was horrible don’t recommend) and a musical repair shop (which was fun but I was in highschool) and then I started teaching a life skills class at a special needs school. I have to make the lessons engaging and adaptive for the different disabilities and cognitive levels of our kids and I get to pick our pace and my lessons so it’s really friendly for my particular brain. It was a bit scary in the beginning but I’ve been there for 3 years and I honestly never want to leave even though it’s part time and I don’t get paid super duper great. It’s the first job I haven’t gotten burnt out in the first 2 months in and so I love it. I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to find a job I liked for more than a few months for my whole life but at 19 I found my career and I’m still there.

We are very similar, and I work with youth and also in kitchens. I like working with youth bc it is easier for me to talk with youth vs adults, and it’s an environment where I can be creative and also a little silly.

I have very similar conditions and, although I’m not sure of your age/ education/ skill level, I’d be happy to share what I’ve learned so far! Honestly the best thing to do is just try out lots of different things (through internships if your in college maybe, or part-time jobs otherwise) and take note of what works for you and what doesn’t. Also get feedback from employers on where you can improve. If you seem to get the same critiques, but it isn’t something you’re comfortable making a change with there’s more than likely a career out there that doesn’t require it. The same can be said for most “deal breakers” in jobs. You really just don’t know what’s going to work for you until you try. I always thought I wanted to work in finance, and now after working in two completely different areas I’ve finance I’ve realized I don’t think it’s the right industry for me.

I have autism and adhd and depression and developed high anxiety while working customer service for 3 years at a tech job. I was constantly on the verge of getting fired and struggling to keep up and understand things that I'm expected to explain to others and I was hoping to move up the later into the engineering wing and do software development but I failed my test for it twice and was never given another shot. It got so bad I quit my job and moved back in with my parents to go back to school to try to get a better job. I just started my second year of grad school this term. Every job, even if it's something you love, will wear you down. But the important thing is to find a job that matches your skillsets and pattern of thinking and that allows you to perform well but also recover when you need to. Don't be afraid to try a few Jobs out. You don't have to stay there forever if it's a struggle. But try to work past the initial "I'm new and don't know how to do this" before making a judgement about the job unless it's really bad. Also, find a hobby, or something you enjoy that isn't work so you can focus on something else and recover from stress when you're off. I pushed myself too hard when I was up against a wall and didn't allow myself to heal and it broke me psychologically. We are built to need breaks. Don't be afraid to relax once in a while and take some days off.

Hi! So I have pretty similar conditions, and I’ve been working different jobs for a few years now. I’m currently a barista at Starbucks. I really enjoy this job because the pace is consistent and I love getting a chance to work with my hands. Starbucks (while as a company, it has its flaws), also has some pretty solid benefits, like free therapy sessions, free spotify premium, and a free subscription to Headspace. Another thing you’ll run into while working for the siren (hopefully) is that a lot of the employees are usually lgbt and/or neurodivergent. Ive worked many jobs, and this one has to be my favorite. I will also highlight the downsides it has -syrups are sticky, you will get sticky hands -strong smells (while they are good, they are strong) -sometimes rush hour can be fast paced and overwhelming -its customer service, so you will run into people who arent always kind I hope this little bit of info is useful :) good luck!

I'm autistic and ADHD and I'm working my very first job in retail (Spirit Halloween) which has been better than I expected. Note: It is a part-time job but there's been several times I worked 8 or 9 hour shifts 3 days in a row. The sounds overstimulate me pretty quickly which definitely negatively impacts me but I've thrived because I can spend sooo much time organizing and arranging things and fixing things out of place. Also, different retail places sometimes have cashiers and stockers and customer service and whatever as separate positions but here it's all-in-one which allows me to switch tasks if I get bored, I can usually find something interesting to do that makes my brain happy. My social anxiety is pretty mild nowaday but I definitely had a lot of trouble talking to customers at first especially approaching them to ask if they're finding things okay but it helped when I reminded myself that for a customer, interactions with retail workers are so short and forgettable that they're not gonna care if I stutter or accidentally give wrong directions or just sound "weird". Everything will be forgotten within a day. I don't know if this is helpful but I was quite worried that I'd never be able to work retail and long hours since I'm autistic and that it would be difficult to find a job but with the right job responsibilities its gone better than I imagined

I try and find jobs with minimal noise and lots of order. But I got fired today so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about