So it seems that i couldnt handle the anxiety of working at the restaurant i just started at. Really disappointed in my self. The amount of sheer will it took to even attempt to work was insane. Maybe i could try to apply for disability again because i cant survive on regular unemployment payments while renting a place anymore. I cant work anymore. My social anxiety is just too hectic.
Anyone else accepting and coming to terms with not being able to have a job anymore?
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Ive only just got on the DSP. It has been a struggle accepting that i cant work anymore. I wish you all the best. Keep your head up. Things will improve.
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I know that I can’t work
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Sorry to hear that. It’s okay tho you’ll find new ventures. Hope you’re still happy 
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Went through the whole rigamaroll starting back in 2019.
Therapist linked me up with a yoga studio for volunteer work—ended up being asked by the owner to work there 3 days a week.
Was a nice job, and wasn’t really doing it for the money (pay was not great, but helped with psychosocial stuff).
Then COVID happened and the studio closed.
Got linked up again— this time with state-run Office of Rehabilitative Services— who enrolled me in a job search program.
Was helpful, and learned some valuable tips. While in the program, applied for a part-time retail cosmetics gig and got hired.
Worked there a little over one year— symptoms and anxiety proved to be too much to handle at that time.
Bowed out and applied for disability a second time 2.5 years after first applying and being denied, and was awarded benefits about 5ish months later— which is where I’m currently at today.
It’s a real kick in the face when you hit a wall with this illness sometimes— things you thought you could handle prove to be too much, just too taxing on mental health.
I definitely felt like a disappointment— still do sometimes— especially when my neighbors are leaving for work and I’m just chilling outside smoking a cigarette in my slippers (as a matter of fact, doing that as we speak). They know I’m not working at the moment, but don’t know why— “how’s the job search going?” they ask. Somehow it feels like it’s become a game with them— like they know I’m “defective” in some way or something, taunting me with that question, as if to say “you’re a worthless bum, and we know something’s wrong with you.”
Truth is, I get money every month— it’s money that I’ve earned. Yet somehow, I still feel like a parasite.
It’s a tough thing to accept— not working. Done it since 2005. Even did it full-time while unmedicated for almost 3 years.
Just can’t do it right now. And the feeling of somehow losing momentum and coming to terms with the fact that I’m ill and on disability is a tough pill to swallow.
Maybe some day I’ll get another job. But for right now, this is where I’m at.
YMMV, but please know that from an outsider’s perspective, you tried your best, the struggle is real, and if you need disability then by all means apply for it.
It’s just something that I personally contend with at times.
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I’m taking a break from looking for work. Even the process of finding a job was too stressful for me.
Maybe I’ll start with volunteering again.
Good luck with getting disability. Luckily I’m still on it.
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Working in a restaurant is high stress. You need to find lower stress job.
Try janitorial?
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I’m proud of you and think you should feel good about yourself here. Most wouldn’t have tried in the first place. You did and now you have a better idea of your limits. By the way, those are your limits right now. They may not be your limits a year from now.
Seriously, you’re doing great. Keep going.
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Ive accepted the fact that working is stressful and unhealthy for me. I want to be a counselor but dont have the credentials. Im applying for my masters degree in hopes that i can some day help people like myself. But ive been on disability for 2 years now and dont really see a way out. Ive tried working but it just hasnt panned out.
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I also couldn’t handle a job I tried a couple years ago. I lasted 4 days. It was too much and I was moving and learning too slow. I may try again in the future.
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A job is just a job. Opportunities are like trains, as one leaves the station, another one arrives.
More importantly, how do you feel about being socially anxious?
If it’s something that bothers you, that’s where you need to start. Join a club, go out more, meet people and gradually get comfortable around others.
If however you prefer to live a secluded life, explore opportunities in the “work from home” area, which are many.
Whatever you choose to do next, I wish you luck and keep us posted! Fist bump!
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It’s a real kick in the face when you hit a wall with this illness sometimes— things you thought you could handle prove to be too much, just too taxing on mental health.
agree with this as well
it’s a huge achievement to have tried
I was repeatedly in hospital after studying or working et cetera et cetera et cetera I’ve just been through a period of not working for about 12 years or more other than the odd bit of volunteering Disability for life is hard to come by in the UK but I have it… Everyone of us on here deserves it and the chance to work when they can
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Wow thanks guys and gals. Really great replies here. Appreciate you all. 
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I’m 73 years old. My world sees me as retired, which works out great.
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If you had a work from home job would that help?
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I lost so many jobs but I was the one who quit.
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Luckily my employer let me take a month break… That’s why construction is the best…it’s more casual
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@mangojuice i wouldnt know what or how to work from home. Like what?
What skills do you have? If you don’t have skills, can you learn them?
All I knew about insurance six years ago was that I didn’t like it.
I still don’t like it, but now I understand it.
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I feel like a “worthless bum” a lot too man. I tried holding a job this past march and it lasted a month before I couldn’t take the stress. It was causing me to go deeper into psychosis with certain delusions. When i get more stable i’m going to try again but idk how that will work. I hope i can be normal some day, and when i talk to most people they say they can’t tell, but i don’t think things will ever be the same. It’s like I had my innocence taken from me and it is never coming back.
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