I think it's only a time thing because at some point our poison meter fills up and we can't take it anymore. In my case each of those time limits coincided with some stupid event. Like new management coming in and swinging their junk around trying to make an impression.

I think the main problem for my friend is the corporate politics. They say one thing, like "If you come on full time we'll give you training for X." And then months later there isn't even a hint of that happening and they're full of excuses. It seems like most companies pull that kinda crap, then get surprised when we quit and go somewhere else. Like yeah we have ADHD and autism and stuff, but we're really fucking good at what we do so getting another job doesn't take much. It's just exhausting going through this every 1-2 years.

eta: I did work for myself for a bit. But dealing with finance people and VP's trying to convince me that I wasn't worth my contract rates was infuriating. It's so hard to not say "we both know you're lying and if you went through a firm you'd be paying 2-3x this much". I have a much more relaxed job working for an organization teenage me would have dreamed about. So hopefully this is my forever job.