How can they expect someone with schizophrenia to work actuslly work? Isnt that kind of heartless? Being bombarded all day by stress then adding more by working it seems so heartless to me
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I get what is technically a social security pension…which is a little unusual…but I used to exist on SSI…not even SSDI but just SSI. Despite my countless number of jobs I had worked I didn’t have enough work credits to qualify for SSDI. But because of the age I was declared disabled I now get a pension from social security which in time will be enough to get by on.
im better right now but just in case it comes back when risperdone leaves my system how did you do that? age? its just so depressing in itself to work around others when your sedated and feel like your on drugs
yes it was because I was disabled before the age of 22 I believe. I now receive half the amount of my mothers pension which isn’t much but is far more than I was getting on SSI…when my father retires in a few years that will be enough to support myself in a however humble way.
dude i feel for you so much. our system needs to change to male it more fair. i keep getting pressure from my dad to work but the depression, anxiety, feeling worthless, no concentration theres a whole list and being around people make all that ten times worse. when i heard voices they told me the CIA only made people work to give them something to do clearly see its not the case now that im much better its so unethical to expect a fellow human being to suffer more in their life just for our sake
I work. But I am home from work a couple of weeks every year when I need my meds to be adjusted. I was home for almost two years when I first became ill. But I am high functioning on Abilify, Quetiapine and Nitrazepam for sleep.
@cactustomato -don’t feel for me…I live in a one bedroom apartment above a garage in probably what is the most desirable town in my entire state and have a pickup truck to get around in. My personal income may put me below the poverty level but you’d certainly never know this.
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what is your day like? are you down on yourself when someone asks you a question and meds make you slow to respond and stuff? i think the system should be gesred toward allowing all to seek equal joy in life rather than if legally you can suffer through any meager job then go home and suffer some more it sucks
blessed dude. my dad wont even let me live in his three bedroom house instead he pays my aunt to let me live with her in her besten down trailer. and hes not happy about it. ive been applying to work but im imagining how bad these interviews are going to go with how horrible my concentration and brain function is now and im actuslly mostly better just negative symptoms. i cant imagine someone whose actusll hearing voices while in the interview
I work… I have a job as a gardner/ park maintenance. There are over 400 parks and open areas in my city, plus public beaches and hiking trails.
It’s flex schedule… summers are long days and winter are short days… and I’m out in the parks by myself a lot… or with one or two other crew. I drive around and take care of a lot things in the parks… dangerous trees, assess trail safety, plant health, sometimes I get to used the huge mower for the play fields and stripe them… prune hedges, take care of the city rose gardens, look in on the community gardens and make sure they are being maintained… I get a stack of work orders in a day and I do my best to get through them as much as I can. I’m on a different site almost everyday.
I worked up to that. It started off as being a janitor for the community centers it was 4 to 5 hours a day and it started early in the morning and ended before everyone else got there. Then I did a lot of mopping and window washing and trash emptying and bathroom scrubbing. I was finished by 9 or 10 a.m.
so did your meds cure you of negative symptoms or do you just suffer through it
My meds somehow kicked me out of a huge chunk or my negative symptoms. I do still have some bad days that I just force myself if I can. I’m Union so I do have sick leave. The more therapy I’ve been in and the longer I’ve gone without a problem, the less my negative symptoms have become.
Latuda has some mood stabilizing properties to it.
I do have some positives flair up these days… but I just suffer through those as well. Because there are a few more days that go OK.
in the U.K. if you are diagnosed with schizophrenia or some other disorder you can apply for disability credits as well as support allowance. get your rent paid to. in that respect I am ok for money and I thank the welfare system for that.i think there are freeloaders who haven’t gota illness but say theyre depressed or whatever.goverment is craking down on this.
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yeah…round here that sort of social welfare system is called ‘communism’ and people are expected to either pull their weight or live below the poverty line. The next state south of here has a better social welfare system and it is commonly referred to as a ‘people’s republic’…
As far as I’m concerned if we must have this competitive financially based society than we damn well should have a safety net for all those who can’t quite make it in this madhouse of a world.
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I work full time in a job that has me traveling 2 weeks a month to do 30+ person trainings. And yes, I hear voices in a constant stream whenever I am awake, have visual hallucinations and an autoimmune disease that has me in constant pain. My drs say I’d qualify for disability, but I refuse to do it. I just can’t imagine not working - I love my job and for me it is therapy.
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I don’t c why someone with mental disability should work if its beyond them.america is quite different in that way from Europe.
right there with you… I love my job. There were times when the repetitive nature of my job was the only stability in my brain.
Now… I’m out in the gardens… I have a flex schedule… I’m left alone to get on with my job. People say hi and then they go away. Everyday is slightly different but it’s never over the top hard. It fits me.
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I’m able to work.
I have a job at which my supervisors know I have a mental illness. I spend most of my time of work during the year interacting with students (I work at a college), and if I get too stressed out, or something’s bothering me, they allow me to go to a back office and do paperwork or something easy. Also, I don’t get in trouble if I have to go into the hospital for a little bit, they let me have that time off.
I wasn’t able to work when I was symptomatic and for a year after I was diagnosed, but the meds I’m on now help me tremendously. I still have moments but I think the fact that I work helps me. Keeps my mind distracted sometimes.
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Hi Guys
I graduated university in 2001, and worked abroad for 4 1/2 years, it was great but things started to get bad after I got married, my thoughts began to go haywire, we finally moved back to North America and I got some help. I had 7 jobs in 3 years, my symptoms were not helping me function well. Eventually my wife left me, and there are no hard feelings, she cares for our daughter in another city. I have worked 3 transitional employment jobs which are like supported employment through a clubhouse based on the ICCD model.
sigh, it is tough, i apply for part-time work all the time, and I still try to keep at it with my art, but it is difficult with the negative symptoms.
However, despite all the suffering, I am happy.
I have been on disability benefits here in Canada for several years and it is by no means luxurious but I have enough to get by, and even pay child support. I gave up having a car because it just is too expensive.
I mostly work alone. I like it that way. I feel retarded when I am working with co workers or in the lunch room. I sit alone most of the time.