How many here on disability versus how many here work?

[Mloureiro]

I work but it makes things worse for me. Adds so much extra pressure, anxiety, and stress that I don't need. In fact my work environment is my number one source of distress. Wish I could get disability but I don't seem to be as bad off as I need to be to qualify. People tell me to practice gratitude, bless their well-meaning-but-misguided hearts.

Likewise. Know how you feel. Just waking up in the morning and imagining my workday makes me wish I had died in my sleep

 

[LastFlowers]

I don't work. (Isolating is the only reason I am still alive). I barely leave my room and can barely function.
I am dependent on my parents but haven't required much besides food and shelter since I don't do anything. I try not to ask for much.
I always knew that if I wanted certain things fixed, they would be expensive so I avoided asking for anything outside my goals-as much as possible.

But I'm not on any disability, I always feared going on it because it could interfere with the possible solutions I was researching for my problems.
Being labeled as mentally disabled (even though my issues technically stem from the physical) could be a red flag to doctors that I wanted to visit or have procedures with..they could use it to deny me.
I also don't want to be required to visit
a therapist or psych doctor as talk therapy and any medications (save for sleep) have proved time and time again to be detrimental to me.
I think it is because there is technically nothing wrong with my mind, for me I am just reacting normally to an abnormal situation.

I guess it doesn't matter so much now about doctors denying me since I'm pretty sure the solutions I researched are impossible now, at my age, and with all the damage and wrong turns I have taken.
But in the same vein, if I'm going to die anyway, I don't need to be supplemented by the government.
I don't want to be forced into a therapist's office and told I am mentally ill, treated like a guinea pig in my final days.

That makes me wonder though, what do they do about agoraphobic folk who won't leave their house? How can they force them to go to a therapist office every so often (as far as I know this is always required for mental disability..and doctor visits for a physical one).
My mother wants me to go on disability and food stamps but she also wants me to keep trying for the impossible.
I'm just tired and I see my future, it is no less bleak than the present..but more so.

 

[WhiteDespair]

Yes, full-time. At times it seems as if my job is the only thing I have and I would CtB if I got fired.

 

[Susannah]

I work, although it's a temporary job. I don't have huge mental problems, but I crushed both my arms in an accident. My arms are kind of working now, but I struggle with pain.

Here in Norway, it's actually more easy to get public support/disabilitiy help if you have a psyciatric diagnose rather than a physical damage. Mental health problems are more difficult to "prove", and politically, mental health has become a big issue.

 

[lofistos345]

No work. I wish I had a job. So boring nothing to do with my life.

 

[tehdisturbedone]

Yes, full-time. At times it seems as if my job is the only thing I have and I would CtB if I got fired.

hey man, I feel the same way as soon as my classes and shift ends. That sense of purpose is a motherfucker

 

[WhiteDespair]

hey man, I feel the same way as soon as my classes and shift ends. That sense of purpose is a motherfucker

I came very close to losing my job last year. I think the main reason I wasn't axed was because the boss gave me a task that I, likely, was supposed to fail. I actually completed it and the outcome lept my boss' ass out of the fire. I might have CtB bacl then if that happened.

You are correct. That sense of purpose that comes with the job can help you push through. Unfortunately, it ends after 5pm.

 

[Mr. Sensitive]

I works for 40yrs and nowon disability for the past 2yrs. I never realized that work was my life and also work was my social life.

 

[Morphinekiss]

Neither. Apparently epilepsy+debilitating migraines+degenerative scoliosis+ trigeminal neuralgia+ RA isn't disabled enough to qualify for any kind of benefits.

 

[Bärchen]

Working in the same job since 2005, started 2002 in that company.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Disability or what passes for it in the UK. I wish I could work. I miss it so much now that I'm on the scrap heap and worthless. I'd take back all the stress and difficult people in a heartbeat if I could.

 

[Morphinekiss]

Disability or what passes for it in the UK. I wish I could work. I miss it so much now that I'm on the scrap heap and worthless. I'd take back all the stress and difficult people in a heartbeat if I could.

This. I'd go work at a McDonald's if it meant being able to be a functioning member of society again.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

This. I'd go work at a McDonald's if it meant being able to be a functioning member of society again.

Same here. I had quite a high status job once. I confess I looked down on the uneducated masses with their mundane jobs. What a pillock. At least I guess I've learnt some humility

 

[metalchic_74]

I'm on SSDI for bipolar.

 

[Sweet emotion]

I'm unable to work due to physical conditions. I haven't worked in 14 years and I hate it.

 

[Meeseeks]

I'm working two jobs but my hours are wonky (retail and a gym). Started out great but ive isolated so much the past few months all I do is work and come home. And wouldn't you know it, I'm back on this site!! Woopty -fucking-doo

 

[Jean4]

I'm on SSI...

The official reason is schizoaffective disorder but really it's because I can't (or don't want to?) interact with people who treat me like an alien.

Nicely stated. I do understand.

 

[Dreamwithinadream]

Disability. I wish I was well enough to work.

 

[wiIIow]

waiting on a decision. it's been a lengthy, complicated and confusing process, strange how inaccessible disability benefits seem to be for those who need it.

love being treated like a child and an alien at the social security office. I'm sick, not stupid.

anyway, I've had over 20 jobs in 8 years, I can never hold myself together for very long before breaking down. it's fine at first, then the mask deteriorates when i inevitably run out of energy to maintain the facade, the panic attacks and exhaustion come, i start to act fucking weird, I attract a bully or two, it all just goes to shit.

I'm not sure what im going to do if I am rejected, im barely surviving. of course I'll be making barely enough with benefits, but at least i could work just a few hours each week and still make rent and feed myself without flailing around in a job that's making me sick. maybe even find myself a therapist, if I'm feeling feisty.

 

[schopenh]

I am on illness benefits for over a year and a half but not full disability. I have applied for disability but may not get it due to me having 'chronic pain' but neurological damage absent on electrophysiological examination (which is actually quite common). So they probably won't accept subjective descriptions of severe pain as a valid reason. I have no desire to fight for the full disability as I don't want to be in severe pain arguing with soulless government golems to get a paltry amount of money each month so I can continue to exist in severe pain. Hence why I am on SS and planning CTB

 

[Santiago]

Law student (it kills me a little bit every day)

 

[Rachel]

Oh neither, kill me lol

 

[Lefty]

I work part-time. I should probably be on disability though. Or I could possibly get by as a freelancer if I got some coding projects. Retail is the worse if you have mental illness. Not sure how long this seasonal job is gonna last, I might have to quit early.

 

[WearyWanderer]

I had one part-time job for a year and was planning to get a part-time job through my state's job program for people who are mentally or physically disabled. But once my physical health issues began, there was just no way I could work. So now I'm trying to puzzle through the maze of bureaucratic BS the US gov't crafted to appeal my SSI claim. Oh, and I found out it will be $215 dollars for my doctor to fill out a form I need to send in if I want even a chance of being approved, so, y'know, that's nice.

 

[a_strange_day]

Disability for 2 years. Honestly the day I knew I was accepted it was like getting the final blow. At first I thought it would set me free, that I could go away and start anew somewhere else far from the past and all that I couldn't stand anymore. But it was already too late, the truth is I'm so dead inside that I can't even enjoy this new "freedom" and I do nothing but wait for death.

 

[SelfHatingAspie]

I was working full-time until earlier this year, when I was asked by my employer to take sick leave.

I don't now how it works in other countries, but in Australia you really have four options:
- sickness allowance/disability support pension
- income protection insurance
- live off savings/family
- become homeless

Sickness allowance is paid by the government, but it's a pittance and approval is a long and drawn out process. It's also going to be phased out and replaced with jobseeker allowance in early 2020 (yep, the government is going to make sick people try and apply for jobs ... that's a conservative right-wing government for you, but I digress). Disability support pension is a longer term payment, but again ... tough and stressful to apply for, and you tend to get treated like crap in the process.

As a result, many working people over here take out income protection, although in some cases an employer may pay the premium for you. I'm extremely fortunate in that I have income protection and my (now former) employer paid my premiums, although I've had some form of income protection insurance since my early 20s (back when I was paying for it myself).

Income protection payments are usually around 75% of the insured's usual post-tax income. These payments are made until the insured is working again, ususally with a maximum payment term of 2 years (although you can buy policies that pay until aged 65, but these are quite expensive). After 2 years on income protection, I'd either need to try and get another job (even if I've not recovered) or put in a claim for a total and permanent disability insurance payout ... that's under a different policy (again, I've had one of those since my early 20s, and would strongly recommend any working Australian to have this).

I've still got another 15 months or so until my income protection runs out, but I'd prefer to go back to work sooner if at all possible. I'm doing volunteer work at the moment, but tbh it's making my condition worse so I'll probably need to stop doing that soon.

Again, I can't understate just how fortunate I am to be insured to the point where I feel almost embarrassed about it. In case you're wondering, I check my privilege several times a week due to being so self-conscious of it.

 

[mathieu]

I am on disability, too. Not being able to work makes everything so much worse. I feel like a complete failure and worthless. Also I feel like the only one who doesn't work. Like I'm completely alone. I spend my time playing video games, trying to distract from how I feel.

 

[azucaramargo]

I am on disability. I want to work again part time. Why? Because having nothing to do is horrible. I volunteered for about a year. It was 8-10 hours a day 4-5 days a week. I liked it. They don't have volunteer positions there anymore. This is such a small town there are no more opportunities to volunteer. I remember times when I worked I just wanted to stay at home, or stay away from people and the stress they were causing. Or not getting any sleep or just 2 hours. Or being forced to work with a cold or flu. I know what its like to dread going to work. But I think it absolutely has a therapeutic effect. Just having something to do, keep the body moving, the mind busy. Its negative sometimes because you don't get to decide how much time you are there on the job. People get burned out.

This is one of the best posts about work I've seen. You really captured the ups and the downs of working outside the home, I thought.

 

[Sensei]

I work. I function well at work but not outside work. I have a very stimulating, but also very stressful job, the latter totally inappropriate for someone who's biolar like me. It's been described as a miracle that I can work and even perform well. It's just a matter of time till I won't be able to handle it anymore, though. Then it's time to go.

 

[End Piece]

I'm funemployed.
Just kidding. It's not fun, it's incredibly disheartening and makes me feel like a parasite.