http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/17/society.martina...
"But then humourlessness, universal and institutionalised humourlessness, is the lifeblood of porno"
In adult entertainment you are not an individual, but rather a resource to be exploited. I've worked in a few other industries and I've never felt the callousness that I did while working in the adult industry. Because everyone is numb, it ends up creating an environment where there is no support and you'll eagerly step over a fallen comrade and right into the meat grinder yourself.
I remember sitting at a pub with a group of 8 coworkers, one of whom had just given his two-weeks notice. He confided in us, over beers, that he was extremely depressed. No one at the table said anything in response; no reassurances, no thoughtful gestures. We sat quietly for a few moments before someone changed the conversation, but we all knew why he felt that way.
I know plenty of people in programming business who are depressed. Read some stories about gaming company death marches.
Financial business is also notorious for numbness and meaninglessness it often engenders in its participants.
Let's not fail to mention the innumerable hundreds of thousands who are stuck in menial/warehouse/retail/tech support jobs that offer little to no mental nourishment. "Wage slave" is a common term for a reason.
I think pretty much any industry can numb and dehumanize people who are not careful to build and maintain their relationships and social structures. I would not expect to be best friends with all my coworkers, and I would feel my life to be severely one-sided if I only had friends among coworkers.
Sure, shady and disheartening things can happen at any company. However, if that type of negative culture is cultivated at the expense of everything else, it can be jarring even for the most stable individual. I experienced some things that were pretty terrible (and illegal) that gave me pause, but more veteran employees shrugged those things off with cavalier sarcasm. I left because I didn't want to become like them.