As more people are diagnosed with neurodivergent conditions, experience burnout, or struggle to remain in work, the conversation often focuses on individuals. But what if we’re asking the wrong question? Perhaps it’s not simply people who are failing to adapt, but systems that were never designed around human needs in the first place.
We’re Asking the Wrong Question
Remarks by politicians and government agencies accusing people of exaggerating illness or faking conditions for financial gain, particularly regarding neurodivergence and mental health, are deeply frustrating.
Recently, we’ve once again heard familiar narratives: that people are gaming the welfare system, unwilling to work, or simply lack resilience. The idea that “work is good for mental health” is repeated so often that it begins to sound unquestionable. But life is more complicated than that.
Meaningful, safe, and supportive work can absolutely improve wellbeing. Purpose matters. Stability matters. Community matters. Financial security matters. But work that is inflexible, unsafe, exhausting, traumatising, socially overwhelming, or fundamentally incompatible with someone’s needs can deepen distress rather than relieve it.
Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of asking why so many people are struggling, perhaps we should ask what it is about modern life, work, and society that leaves so many people struggling in the first place.
Built for Productivity, Not People
Our economy and many of our institutions still seem rooted in an outdated understanding of human needs. We have created systems that often prioritise productivity, efficiency, and economic output over wellbeing, flexibility, dignity and, at times, even the planet itself.
Modern work culture often assumes consistency, resilience, emotional regulation, social confidence, commuting, rigid schedules, and the ability to keep functioning under pressure regardless of personal circumstances.
Even many neurotypical people struggle under these expectations. For neurodivergent people and those living with trauma or mental health conditions, these systems can become almost impossible to navigate.
This isn’t simply about employment. It shapes education, healthcare, social relationships, and how we measure success. We tend to reward people who can adapt to existing systems, rather than questioning whether those systems are healthy in the first place.
The Cost of Masking
I’m a masking neurodivergent woman in my 40s living with ADHD, autism, complex trauma, anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder. I’ve spent much of my life trying to function within systems that weren’t designed with minds like mine in mind.
I’ve never faked my conditions. If anything, I’ve done the opposite. I’ve masked them.
Masking is survival. It’s pretending you’re okay when you’re overwhelmed. Rehearsing conversations. Hiding distress. Suppressing sensory overload. Forcing yourself to appear calm, capable, resilient, and “normal” in environments where difference is often misunderstood. It takes enormous energy simply to participate in everyday life.
Like many people, I wanted to work. I repeatedly tried to work. But determination alone couldn’t overcome environments that fundamentally clashed with my needs. When I eventually worked for myself, with greater flexibility and autonomy, I realised something important. The issue was never a lack of willingness to contribute. It was finding conditions that allowed me to do so sustainably.
Invisible Doesn’t Mean Imaginary
Even now, people sometimes question my disability because it isn’t always visible. I can walk. I can carry shopping. Some days I appear completely fine. But invisible disability doesn’t work like that. Many conditions fluctuate. Many people spend enormous amounts of energy appearing functional, only to collapse when they return home. Looking well is not the same as being well. The ability to function sometimes does not erase disability.
Perhaps the Systems Are Failing
This is why I find public narratives suggesting that large numbers of people are simply pretending to be ill so concerning. Of course, we will always be isolated cases of fraud. That is true of every system. But when increasing numbers of people experience burnout, poor mental health, neuro-developmental conditions, and an inability to cope with modern working life, perhaps the more important question isn’t whether individuals are failing. Perhaps we should be asking whether our systems are.
Instead of expecting people to endlessly adapt to environments that leave so many exhausted, maybe it’s time to rethink what we value. What would happen if workplaces offered greater flexibility? If productivity wasn’t measured solely by hours spent at a desk? If managers understood trauma, neurodivergence, and mental health? If dignity mattered as much as efficiency?
These aren’t radical ideas. They’re human ones.
Asking Better Questions
If increasing numbers of people are burning out, withdrawing from work, and struggling to participate in systems that were supposedly built to support society, perhaps the problem isn’t simply the people. Perhaps it’s time we started questioning the systems themselves. Because until we do, we’ll continue treating symptoms while leaving the causes untouched.
Karmic Rebelle ©
(Disrupt Karma. Restore Dharma)