Hi. I’m wondering if anyone is currently or has worked post-diagnosis? I’m working part-time in the mental health field and I had to take a leave due to stress. I’m not sure if I need to change fields or give up working all together. Any insight would be much appreciated
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I haven’t successfully worked since my diagnosis but successfully go to school full time. I am studying in a field where you can work freelance or work from home pretty easily so I think I will be able to make do. I know this isn’t what you were looking for but I hope it helps at least a little bit. There is a good number of people on this site that go to school full time or work full time, albeit not many of us.
I’m not able to work yet. It’s a matter of finding the right med(s), getting symptoms under control, and never stop the med(s) that help you. By the way, welcome to the forum!!!
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Welcome to the forum @CEME88! I can’t help you. I hope and plan to return to work, but I haven’t been back yet. But I wanted to say glad to have you here!
You can ask @77nick77 or @TomCat or @shutterbug
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I got an Associates degree post diagnosis.
I already had a masters degree though.
I worked some in 2017 mostly full time but I had trouble. I was late a lot. I worked some in 2018. And I went back to work full time March 17th of this year.
So far so good. Haven’t been late yet. It takes time. You have to be stable. I have to have a little stress. No stress is boring. I have to be challenged.
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Hey. I also had to take a leave of absence at work for a while so I could get stable, but I’ve been working in the mental health sector successfully since 2010! Your diagnosis does not determine your level o success. If you want to accomplish something, you can.
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Thanks for the response. Going back to school doesn’t interest me much, but out of curiosity what field are you studying?
If you are talking to me I went back to school to study Aviation Maintenance Technology. I got my aircraft mechanic licenses. I used to be a pilot.
I worked as an aircraft mechanic for 6 months in 2017 but it only paid $15 an hour. I can make a lot more than that with my masters degree so I went back to work working for the government in a field I have no experience in. But the masters degree got me the GS 9 paygrade which is about $25 an hour.
I could have made a lot more than that working an aviation job (pilot non flying stuff) but I would have to move.
Everything is relative. You can do anything you put your mind to once you’re stable.
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Before I got my second episode, I used to work part time as a parapro tutor. There were days I needed off but overall it was manageable. Soon I plan to go back to tutoring or become a peer coach. I think it’s a good choice for people like us. Maybe you can try a job with fewer hours.
Thanks. I’m on the right meds thankfully, now I need to find and build a support group ie therapist and in-person support group
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Thanks and congrats! Do you have daily/weekly routines? Recently I’ve been considering implementing some, but not sure if I want to or if it’ll be enough beneficial. I like a challenge as well, but my stress level the past few months has been too high for my liking or well-being for that matter. I’m torn whether to go back to my current employer, out of integrity, or try and get some financial assistance until I hear back from the board of pharmacy regarding my license. What are your thoughts?
I go to bed before 930 pm every night and take my meds at the same time every day. I wake up at 630 am.
I work as a cashier getting $9.50/hr. I’ve stabilized a lot but this is the most I can handle. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be and I’m currently am having health problems which I’m working on resolving. I used to be a chemistry major and haven’t been able to finish. I tried and it just triggered my symptoms and made things worse. I used to be very sharp and great with a lot of things but now I’m not the same anymore. I usually work 42 hours a week sometimes more but I try to maintain my independence and not ask my parents for much.
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I have schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and I work. I have teaching jobs, two of them though I am currently working only one of them, four days per week, and I work two midnight shifts per week at a gas station. I never have had the option not to work, so it’s something I have thrown myself into doing, like it or not.
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am I the only one receiving ssi?
I get SSI as well.
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First of all, welcome to the forum. Lots of cool people here.
Lots of people work after being diagnosed.
And incidentally many people with schizophrenia get married or go to college or have kids or travel or work out a gym or own pets etc. In fact most things that so called “normal people” (non-schizophrenics) are doing, there are schizophrenics somewhere in the world doing it too.
I got my first job at age 17 before I got diagnosed. I worked pretty steadily at many jobs after that until I got diagnosed at age 19. I went into my first psyche ward and then I lived in a group home for a year. Following that was an 8 month hospitalization where I suffered terribly because I was psychotic during my entire stay.
After the hospital was another group home but at age 23 I became employed again and have been almost steadily employed since then. My father instilled in me a liking for physical labor jobs so most of jobs were various labor jobs like unloading trucks which I excelled in. I’ve also stocked shelves in various department stores (not too rough), spent three years at HP recycling materials and moving furniture (I excelled at that too). I was a park ranger for a couple of years. I’ve been at my current janitor job for 5 years.
Every person experiences schizophrenia differently. There’s things we have in common but schizophrenia is like a snowflake, no two people are exactly alike.
People handle stress differently.
Stick around here and you will see what is possible for a schizophrenic to do. Most of my jobs have been entry level jobs with no experience necessary. I get along with people but I’m not really a people person so you won’t find me doing sales work or cashiering or doing jobs like you have.
I can’t tell you what to do, I don’t know your personality or your strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I got my first job after my hospitalization only because a counselor thought I could do it. I wasn’t looking for a job and I didn’t ask for the job but a counselor thought I could do it so she recommended it to me so I tried it and I lasted four years. My point here is that sometimes others can see something in us that we can’t see ourselves. If that counselor had not encouraged me I might not have became employed for another two or three years. And my personal experience is that almost everybody has some kind of potential.
I’ve worked while psychotic, I’ve worked jobs while I was addicted to crack, I’ve worked jobs while depressed or physically ill. I’ve worked at jobs for years that I hated but I needed the money so I bit the bullet and just stayed with it. IDK if you should change fields, maybe your stress is temporary or might become more manageable. My personal opinion is that almost any job is respectable. I think labor jobs are respectable. I will take any job that hires me.
I hope you got something from this. I’m 58 now and this is my experience. Good luck.
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I finished my bachelor’s degree while having symptoms but was diagnosed until a few years later. I’ve held down jobs since, but I’ve left many from stress and being in and out of the hospital. I had a job as a barista for 2 years and I dont recommend that, I wasnt psychotic during most of it until this year and I just switched to an easier job but that’s been hard too. Applying for ssi in the mean time. I think it’s definitely for some of us to have easier jobs but that doesnt mean it’s good for us.
If you are talking to me I am studying UX design
I’m on SSI right now but plan to get off in the next couple of months when I start my job as an accountant. I was diagnosed at 22 years old. I had started hearing voices at 19. I’m now almost 29 and since my diagnosis I have gotten an associates degree, drivers license, volunteered, worked at my dads office for a little bit. I’ll be graduating with a bachelors degree in accounting in August and starting my job a month later right in the middle of busy season. I have been taking six classes this semester and will finally be done with them this Friday.
It took a lot of little baby steps for years. When I was first diagnosed I spent the next six months listening to music and lying in bed and barely watching a little bit of tv. Everything was so hard. It’s still hard because I don’t enjoy stuff like I used to and I think I’ve lost iq points too. What helped me was staying on the antipsychotics every single day taking the pills no matter what and high doses, seeing a psychologist, having a good family to talk to, praying, and never doing any drugs other than coffee.
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