When the Problem Seems to Be You
There are times at work when something begins to feel wrong: the workload has not increased, the tasks have not become more complex, and you have not suddenly stopped caring about what you do.
Instead, a quiet feeling starts to grow. You leave work wondering whether you did your job well. You replay conversations in your mind. You think about the decisions you made. You wonder whether you forgot something, overlooked something, or simply were not good enough.
Over time, these questions become surprisingly personal.
- Maybe I’m no longer coping?
- Maybe I’m too demanding, too perfectionist?
- Maybe I just need to adapt better?
For many people, this is where the story ends. The problem seems obvious: “It must be me”.
What If There Is Another Explanation?
But what if there were another way of understanding what is happening? Maybe the problem is not your ability to work, but the conditions in which you are asked to work?
Every profession has its own way of being practized. Whether you are a nurse, a teacher, an engineer, a psychologist, a craftsperson or a manager, your work is not defined only by the tasks you perform. It is also shaped by professional knowledge, experience, judgement and standards of quality that have often been learned over many years.
Not All Work-Related Suffering Is the Same
Most people are willing to adapt. They expect constraints, unexpected situations and difficult days. They know that work rarely unfolds exactly as planned. But there is a difference between adapting to reality and being asked to work in ways that gradually conflict with what your profession requires. When that happens, the question is no longer: “How can I do this work well despite the constraints?” It slowly becomes: “Can I still do the kind of work I believe in?”
This distinction matters because not all difficulties at work have the same meaning.
Every job involves obstacles: reality never unfolds exactly as we expect. Priorities change, things go wrong, unexpected situations arise. Learning to deal with these realities is part of every profession. Although this can be frustrating, it is also what allows people to develop skills, judgement and experience.
But a different kind of suffering emerges when people are no longer able to practise their profession according to the principles that give it meaning. It is no longer a question of having to adjust. It becomes a question of no longer recognizing yourself in the work you produce.
When the Judgement Shifts from the Work to the Person
This is often where something important happens. People rarely say: “The conditions no longer allow me to do my work properly.” Instead, they begin to think: “I’m not good enough“, “Maybe I’m the problem.”
The judgement quietly shifts from the work to the person. What began as a conflict between the demands of the profession and the conditions of work gradually becomes a judgement about one’s own competence, commitment or worth. And that is a much lonelier place to be.
Recognizing this possibility does not immediately change the conditions of work, remove the constraints or solve the organisational problems. But it can change something essential. Instead of carrying the experience as a personal failure, it becomes possible to see it for what it is: a conflict that deserves to be understood rather than silently absorbed.
This is why spaces where work itself can be explored matter so much. Not because people need a place to “vent”. But because they need places where they can observe, describe and think about what their work really requires, what prevents them from doing it as they believe it should be done, and what this conflict is asking of them.
Why This Matters for Mental Health
This also helps us understand why mental health at work cannot be reduced to stress management or individual resilience. When people repeatedly have to act against what they believe good work requires, the conflict does not simply remain in the organisation. It is gradually carried within the person. What began as a difficulty in doing the work becomes a doubt about oneself.
Protecting mental health therefore also means protecting the possibility of doing work that people can still recognize as their own—and creating places where these conflicts can be understood before they become silent personal burdens.
When work can be thought about, it no longer has to be carried alone. And sometimes, that is where the possibility of acting begins.
Continue the Reflection
If this article resonates with your experience, you may also find these resources helpful:
- Why Understanding Work Is Essential to Understanding Mental Health at Work – Why understanding work is essential to understanding psychological health.
- Burnout Looking Beyond the Individual – Why burnout cannot be explained by workload alone.
- The 7-Day Guided Practice – A self-paced reflection journey designed to help you observe your work differently and develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between work and mental health.
Sometimes, the first step is not to find immediate solutions, but to begin seeing your work through a different lens.
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