Who works with schizophrenia? Who gets disability?

I found not being able to work even more heartless and stressful. This is not to say that work always goes well – there have been some days that truly sucked – but the struggle is worth it. Not being able to afford a good meal, or some decent clothes, or a decent place to live, that’s a horrible stressor as well.

It does help that I like what I’m doing now and I look forward to new jobs as they come in (I’m a photographer and also dabble in professional sound).

10-96

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I’ve worked until I was 44 years old. I’ve become too ill at the time and has been on disability ever since. Some days when I feel good I think about going back to work…but I might feel good for two or three days then the sz pulls me down again for a few days. I visited my GP today and she asked me how I’m doing. I told her that my life is stress free since I’m not working. She replied that not working should rather increase my stress levels. Maybe she’s right. If I had the choice I’d rather be working than to be on disability.

I work 2-3 days a week max. Less than four hours each day.
I am actually in the process of getting disability. Have another hearing next month to add Gastroparesis to our case.
Wish me luck!

I work four days a week part time from 6AM-10:30AM. My medication causes me to

  • Feel sleepy two hours into my shift
  • Trip over a coworkers foot
  • Bang into a coworker that is taking freshly baked donuts out of the oven.
  • Have donuts fall onto the floor

i am on disability right now. :frowning:

I think the system is great.I work part-time and get SSDI. I also have Medicare and Medicaid. I have worked for many years but I can not work enough hours to support myself. I have tried getting off SSDI in the past and just get by on working but I always ended up needing SSDI again. I’ve known and run into and worked with many people with mental illness. People do what they can do. You can’t predict the future. I’ve known people who I thought would never work again because they were so messed up only to run into them years later and hear they have a job.

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I do work but it’s not stressful either that or I take the stress pretty well

Not the case for me

My meds have never done all that much for negative symptoms, and they have also made me tired and lethargic. I have had to spend years developing habits on my own to overcome them. I pick one thing I need to do every day to improve my life and just concentrate on doing that regularly until it becomes a positive habit. Then once I’ve nailed down one issue, I pick another and start on it.

This is a time-consuming, frustrating process, but you will get results over the long run. Just don’t expect to see anything overnight or even in the first month. This is one of those ‘time takes time’ things. If you keep a recovery oriented attitude and strive towards recovery every day, you will accomplish much of what you want to as time goes on.

The biggest trick is to not give up after a week or even after a couple of months. I have often thought that recovering from SZ is much like recovering from a brain injury. Progress comes very slowly at first, and then faster as your mind starts to learn how to build new neural paths and connections.

Hope this helps.

10-96

2 Likes

I think the trick is to not try and do the same things you see other people doing, but to strive to do the best you can personally. If part-time work is the best you can handle because of health concerns, that is still pretty darn awesome. I admire anyone who tries to maximize their potential within the limits they are faced with.

10-96

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I’m on disability at the moment. Had a job for 3 days but I quit. Couldn’t take it. :frowning:

i widh more people saw it as recovering from a brain injury

When someone is in the grips of their illness, struggling with their meds (which take a while to adjust to) and so forth, working is counter productive. My ex returned to work 1 month after his formal diagnosis - a job he had previously excelled in. His confidence was shot once he realised he couldn’t focus, couldn’t remember anything and struggled just to stay awake in the middle of a very high-energy, corporate environment. He didn’t want to disclose that he had SZ so he quit after a scathing performance review.

I’m all for entitlements being paid to people in that position.

On the other hand, once symptoms are somewhat in check and medication is stabilised, then not working just keeps you stuck - stuck at home, stuck having little money and as the years pass, your skill-base drops, you become less-employable and so forth.

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i agree. i hope that doesnt happen to me. i need to get better