I feel like i played the system!

well i was diagnosed with sz at age 27, i continued to work at the golf course for a couple years, but one day i just thought, i wonder if i can get on disability? so i applied and was approved without hiring a lawyer. and it’s been a 7 year vacation since, i could probably function and work, but the doctors diagnosed me and forced these meds on me, so part of me feel likes i will make them pay for changing who i am. nobody ever told me to apply for disability, and i didn’t come here to the forum in those days, it was just a shot in the dark. and now sometimes i feel like, im playing the system!

although i never approached psychiatry, psychiatry found me!

i actually enjoyed the job at the golf course, but it didn’t pay much and there was no work 4 months out of the year. last time i was working at the golf course, the birds were telling me “they missed me” haha, while i was pruning trees. i only quit because my buddy george quit, and there was a new boss. all the retired old guys there liked me, and we would play golf together on friday. the thing i didn’t like about it, was they would always hire high school kids in the summer and i had to train them.

it was my longest streak with one employer, 4 years at the same place.

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How do you do that? :whale2::whale2::whale2:

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I play the system

I assume that’s not dollars.

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No its euros €€€

Or maybe it’s not true !

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Yeah. I am leaning towards it not being true. :hatched_chick::hatched_chick::hatched_chick:

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Hey, @Lifer I wouldn’t say you’re playing the system, your illness is legit. Would it affect your disability if you work part-time? For myself, with insurance companies I would be cut off everything. It’s a drag, because I wouldn’t mind a few hours here and there

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all i know about work is it’s a big pain in the ass. asked my caseworker if i would qualify for a state medicaid program to help pay for my meds. the program is called medworks or something like that. anyways my caseworker was clueless. and if i do get a job, i have to report my wages every month with paystubs to the supported employment place. and i can only make so much or else i lose my benefits. everybody is pushing me to go back to work, but the whole thing is such a hassle, im going to wait awhile until i get some solid answers from somebody first before i go back to work. and i may go to college before that, but i would be able to go to college sooner if i was actually working and saving money for 2 years of college. plus i would have to pay rent living somewhere else.

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I hear you. I’m in the same boat, I think I am allowed to work 12 hours a week that includes volunteer with no pay, before I’m cut off everything. It’s just not worth it, because I don’t think I could support myself without my disability

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Disability was great when I had it: payed 550 a month for an apartment received 1000 per month so had enough money left over for whatever. basically lost the apartment due to psychosis then life was crap because all i could find was rooming houses. so i guess for a time it felt like i was playing the system then the system played me right back

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My biggest thing is that I feel like a malingerer because I claim benefits and don’t think I’m mentally unwell despite my treatment team saying I am. I’ve been involuntary hospitalised 13 times for psychosis and mania. I just don’t see myself as unwell. I believe I haven’t got anything wrong with me. I live in supported housing and attend day centre, also on depot. I do feel like a malingerer. What makes it worse is that I’m getting twice as much money then somebody working 40 hour week on minimum wage and I can afford (And do) go on holidays 3/4 times a year.

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It was a red or blue pill moment for me in 2013.

I chose to work, and refused to engage with the community mental health team, who were trying to get me accommodation and on benefits to live.

Think I made the right decision to work. Although it has been difficult at times, I do not regret it at all.

You need to think about what you can achieve in 7 years if you got an entry level job.

When I did this (6 years) I was packing envelopes as a part time temp, and I left there 6 years later as a Senior Data Analyst…

My point is that although we all get written off, sometimes following the advice of these healthcare professionals is perhaps not always the wise thing to do.

It has made accessing treatment these last few years difficult, as everyone just assumes that because you can work, everything is ok. Not entirely the case some times.

This is why I get so angry with the mental health services when they’re being slow, as I am trying to keep my job, and cannot afford to let my mental health drag me down a hole to die

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@Lifer , I would think long and hard before going to work for piddly wages. If you work successfully for too long of a time period, they will stop your disability payments just like that with no warning. I’ve had friends this has happened to. And my friends were never able to reinstate their disability payments after that.

If you really want to work, and believe you’re stable enough to work, if it were me, I would wait and start working after I completed a bachelor’s or higher degree in a good, money making field of my choice and interest.

I would either do that, or attend a trade school that teaches a very high paying trade skill.

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