My psychdoc in the states said I would not qualify for disability. This is the reason I’m working then he said it is not worth it anyways. Whatever that means. I am doing ok and eking out a living somehow. But, it is hard since I have to sleep a lot and take care of myself without anybody near me. I wish I was not ill and could work more. But, such is life!
I might be off base here but IMO there are symptoms that make up a diagnosis, i.e positive and negative ones, and there are cognitive and social effects. I think it’s quite possible to be stable symptoms wise , and yet be cognitively and/or socially disabled.
It’s hard to tell how much my social deficits are due to ASD or due to having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. What I can say is that unlike some here I didn’t haemorrhage friends when severe mental illness struck. That’s because I had no friends to lose.
Outside of family(1F2F contact since 2017) and stepfamily there is no social interaction. Over 64 years I’ve had very, very few friends. Periodic attempts to socially interact(F2F) with others have been total failures.
Even online, though things are comparatively better, I wouldn’t make anyone’s top 10 list.
My father is 90, and lives in Charlotte. We exchange emails from time to time. Ditto re talking to each other.He’s seen me once since 2017. My brother and I exchange fairly frequent emails, but have not seen other since I moved here in September 2017. My sister hardly ever phones. We’re both on FB,but she’ll only very occasionally respond to a comment of mine. I’ve not seen her since I’ve been here.
As with most people contact has been limited compared to pre COVID. Before I was seeing my step- family more regularly. Things should improve in time.
Interesting
I’m surprised it’s just a quarter
I â– â– â– â– â– â– â– love it.
What a radical idea. Let’s rehab them instead of giving them a minimal about if money so they won’t die.
Sadly, it may cost more to rehab a schizo then the worth of the economic benefit in the long term.
Source: me; tired of having to lie to EVERYONE I MEET
The problem is, at least in the Scandinavian countries, stable means “no debilitating positive symptoms” and is achieved by a tendency to overmedicate rather than providing long term therapy.
This leads to an increase in cognitive and negative symptoms.
“Patient hears voices and has anxiety? Why teach them to cope or self soothe when we can dope dem with benzos and quetiapine until they’re not a problem?”
Hello @firemonkey I appreciate you bringing this type of thread to us here.
I’m pretty stable but not able to hold work that would be enough for me to live on.
In addition to my schizophrenia, I have disability stemming from my alcoholism and all the alcoholism round me. And it is not just alcohol to which I make unhealthy attachment. Just look at my smoking history, for example. Also, I clearly have PTSD.
Then, whereas I’m stable from schizophrenia. I have some schiz stuff holding me back. For example, I make eye contact in unusual ways.
I cannot work, and I don’t know why,
Deep down I’m quite ashamed of not having worked. For me there’s a blend of poor social skills/social anxiety/paranoia/lack of initiative/executive functioning difficulties.
If it’s something fairly easy I’m doing for myself I’m relatively OK. If I’m instructed to do something not for myself I’ll do it; aptitude permitting,. However I struggle with using my initiative to follow on from there.
Yes, I feel shame about my work history! It feels like something is wrong with me.