Hearing you, @eudemonism. I think contemporary society expects way too much of most people.
Having worked in a large variety of jobs in my life, and had breakdowns from most of them due to mental and physical illness, excacerbated to a big extent by the high levels of stress and demands for unhealthy speed and 'productivity' in workplaces, I live with some deep anger about the way society demands so much of us and seems to care so little for the effects on our lives.
Between jobs, and for long periods, I needed to live on the equivalent of Newstart with medical exemptions, which plunged me into often dire poverty. This was because my illness after breakdowns became longer in duration and much harder to recover from each time. I have been close to homelessness on two occasions because of this.
I believe contemporary workforces are breeding grounds for mental illness. I also have massive sympathy for anyone living on Newstart, as it is not a livable income, and I believe forces a lot of people into homelessness, not to mention the massive stress of having to prove one is constantly looking for work while in a desperate state of being.
One of the most fortunate things in my life was being given a disability pension. I had to try to get it for 18 months while very ill and living in misery on Newstart, but I have since found it a basically livable income, as long as I share the costs of my housing with someone else, though there is no security of housing for the future and rents have always risen faster than any increase in income I've had.
When I look back over my life, aside from the damaging levels of stress and pressure from outside, my mental and physical health has always been intrinsically very poor, and I should have been awarded the DSP decades ago. It's probably still the case, but it was certainly the case back then that it was very hard to get DSP when young. The pressure on young people in society is immense, with very little compassion shown for young people who fall down, or consideration of how this effects their health and future prospects.
I could rant on much longer about these things, but I realise that these pressures I am describing may not be those you were referring too, or what you have experienced in your life.
Suffice to say, I agree that there are too many expections placed on us in this society, in so many different ways.
