I quit Amazon after 2 months. The job was as stressful as I'd read about.

• Navdeep Singh is a former Amazon software engineer who experienced anxiety because of the pressure at work.
• He said deadlines at Amazon were aggressive and that he felt he wasn't allowed to ask questions.
• Singh quit and says leaving behind his salary was worth it.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Navdeep Singh, a 25-year-old former software engineer at Amazon. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up with my mom and two brothers in the Seattle area. We didn't have a lot of money, and I always believed that I needed a high-paying job to support my family.