Time Toxicity: The Mental Health Cost of Never Having Enough Hours

Some people are drowning in work. Others are drowning in time.

But many Americans are drowning in both—overworked, overscheduled, and under-rested.

This isn’t just burnout. It’s time toxicity.

Time Is a Health Variable

We talk about sleep, nutrition, and exercise as pillars of mental health—but ignore how time (or the lack of it) governs all three.

You can’t eat a balanced meal if you don’t have time to cook. You can’t exercise if your second job starts at 7pm. You can’t get 8 hours of sleep if your child is up sick at night and your shift starts at dawn.

Time poverty leads to decision fatigue, chronic stress, and disconnection. It’s associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and even suicide (American Psychological Association, 2022).

Mental Health Doesn’t Happen on a Lunch Break

For low-income and working-class Americans, access to therapy is often logistically impossible. Sliding scale therapy at 2pm on a weekday doesn’t help if you’re working hourly shifts.

Even telehealth can’t fix a broken clock.

Healing Requires Space

Mental health isn’t just a mindset. It’s a margin.

• Margin to pause before yelling at your kids.

• Margin to process grief instead of numbing it.

• Margin to rest without guilt.

When every second is spent surviving, healing becomes a luxury.

What Can We Do?

• Build time equity into treatment plans.

• Acknowledge that “self-care” isn’t always accessible.

• Advocate for systemic change—fair wages, paid leave, and healthcare access that fits real schedules.

Because therapy works better when your life makes room for it.

Reference

• American Psychological Association (2022). Stress in America Report.