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Employment with schizophrenia

The idea of work brings me out in a cold sweat. I don't know what to do about it. So I don't want my life to end here and now, but I can't get a job and I can't not get a job.

Do you think that the benefit agancies will be happy for me not to work just because I depise it, I mean real distress. When I'm well enough really.

I can't see me being able to convince a doctor that I'm not capable of work just because it feels like its about to kill me just thinkning about it. I mean, I could suffer and put up with it, like depression.
 
Shrug. Don't think I could explain.

Just reading something about how real distress doesn't happen at work anymore, just boredom. Thats not how it seems to me. And I've had a few stragne experiences which means that I can no longer not feel anxious about alternatives to work, like a beach bum or whatever (thiough I'm not quite sure how I could keep my benefit :p)
 
118118 said:
...Do you think that the benefit agancies will be happy for me not to work just because I depise it, I mean real distress. When I'm well enough really...
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Arguably you are not "well enough really". I am not your doctor/psychiatrist, but there is a real and serious risk that going back to work too early can harms someone's recovery process from serious mental health problems.

This isn't an issue that is up to the DWP (although they do sometimes use their doctor to do assessments) - it is something you need to discuss with your GP or psychiatrist.

I would take a different mental approach to things if I were you:

* Say what you need to say to get sickness/disability benefits. There is a formal 'points system' - have a look at it before you fill in any forms or questionaires.

* Sort yourself out in your own time and way, using the opportunity of not having to sign on or be pressured into a shitty job that will prevent you getting things together again.

* Once you yourself feel up to it, take on work to see how it goes. Use the various 'back to work' exemptions/permissions/allowances (up to 16 hours?) so that you don't lose any benefits.

* If everything goes OK, and when you have finally found something (type, amount and work) you can live with - only at this point go back to work full time and 'sign off'.

I am still going through this process. There far more important things in life than work - for example your health and wellbeing. I doubt you woul be as judgemental about other people as you seem to be about yourself, so how about giving yourself a break? Get completely out of the habit of being negative and judgemental about yourself. Focus on positive things in life and spend your time doing these things and thinking about them. Good luck, and let us know how you are getting on.
 
118118 said:
I'm not talking about discrimination and what not. But, I would very much like to know what sort of careers are reasonable to be working towards after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. E.g. I had my cognitive ability tested a few months back, and I've dropped say 10 points because of lack of concentration/slowing down because of medication.

So what sort of work should I be capable of compared with before. I was a medical student before I was ill, so what now... factory work, telesales? Anything better than that? Maybe its an impossible question, but...

Cheers
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counseling for people with mental illness? that way you still get that satisfaction from helping people you would of gotten in the medical field. plus people will relate to you more because you understand.
 
Yeah, I'm looking into finding some volunteer counselling work now. Apparently its difficult to come by. Any advice?
 
Samaritans? Child line? etc there's quite a few of these kind of help lines and they all want volunteers.

you won't get anything more "involved" without a counselling diploma, unfortunately.
 
I'm probably going to do a counselling course in the next few months. No doubt I'll fail uni because of it :rolleyes: Nah, like I'm going to see what telephone "listening" I can do over the summer, too.
 
I am long term sick person. I suffer with panic attacks and depression and i had to attend interview with doc and passed wiv flyin colours its real easy interview. Explain how u feel, that ur panicky about work and depressed and need to sort ur self out and get over ur diagnosis and cant sleep or eat at the thought of work. It worked for me i passed and get reviewed in 2 yr time
 
Reviews, ugghhh.

I have booked into a counselling course, so thanks for the support. I'm not sure if its really me, and it may stress me out talking to untrained/real people about "problems",. but hey.
 
i have bipolar diagnosis following years of being told no it was not that was two years go i found out and it has been up words since and as been said find work in what you like doing i like empty spaces and taking images of them and i aint that good but this lead me to urban spalsh who like people like me to document there work now two days a week unpaid one is takeing images for them they pay my train fare feed me.

i have been told there keen on takeing me on but my head is freeking aged 41 never worked due to part ill health this is the first time i have worked as such and fucking loveing it.

just go for it if all gose wrong take time back out relax and thing why it was wrong it is not easy one is also on meds and they do alter you a lot but at the moment it is working for me and as also said find someone who understands urban splash do and there fucking ace.
 
Yeah. maybe I like the idea of being alone too much to really bother going down this route. Its just that the only work I could see this leading to gardening, but I always found that too boring when I was younger, not in an intensley upsetting way, but certaily enough not to want to go to work. Annoying really, as I have no artistic talent - the only thig I ever thought I was good at was being introspective - which may be relevent to MH I guess.

Good to hear that you like your job :)
 
Have you thought about contacting MIND? If you want some volunteer work in the MH field. They seem to be a good place to start.
 
Yeah, I e-mailed a local centre and call-line, but haven't heard back yet. The only problem is that I went for an interview at a, not sure if it was mind tbh, centre a few years back before I was an inpatient, and I hated it there. My brother never wanted to go to those places, and I imagined that everyone was the same. Its since closed, i think.
 
'Long time ago in a land far away I split myself in pieces with LSD, and inside was lots of nasty shit that came out of how I grew up. I had six years in half-way houses, in-patient care, getting on my feet and falling back over... One diagnosis I received was schizophrenia (they weren't right, though I certainly presented with psychosis).

I did the telesales thing, despatch riding, a project for unempoyed as an assistant drama therapist (which I liked)... lots of low grade work that made me feel I was outside and belonged there.

One way or another I eventually sort of picked myself up, took some good turns and ended up working as a technician in TV. Over 10 years things developed and I was doing 'important' stuff but disliking it. I moved to a new company, got bullied by a c**t boss and pressurised until I broke down again.
They paid me off and I went off and got a degree. Meanwhile I was working with messed up kids at school. I'm now working as a manager for a company that provides education to excluded and out-of-school kids, and training to as a therapist with kids and adolescents.

I'm thinking I've found my vocation now, but it's taken me about 25 years to get here. What I mean to say is please don't chalk yourself down as 'only' being capable of whatever it is. I've no idea about your life but guess that as a medical student you've enjoyed high expectations of yourself. In my experience that gets slapped out of you pretty hard when you spend time 'inside'. But why not start off with getting a place of your own (if you've not got one), holding down a steady job (I was a despatch rider) and taking some patient time to develop some social connections.

Behind what you were asking I couldn't help thinking there was something about 'What am I now'. Or maybe that's just the shrink rap?
 
There's a part of me that feels like I'm trivialising schizophrenia when I post about my experiences, because my experiences were *just* a year or so of drug- / alcohol- induced voices, hallucinations and terror. I was never medicated (always too well hidden and far too terrified of the outside world to show my face much), just sectioned the once for 3 days. My symptoms went away when I stopped drinking / using.

One of the reasons I'm posting is 118118's mention of a counselling course. Outstanding idea. The counselling course I'm on (only a certificate) has opened my eyes and I've grown hugely as a person thanks - in part - to it. Go for it, and heartfelt best of luck!

There's also a part of me that - I guess - feels I don't have the right to intrude on this thread and post about what's happened for me since sobering up, and since my voices / hallucinations / constant terror stopped. I know my life was made immeasurably easier by the fact that my symptoms were self-inflicted, and I guess I feel like a bit of a part-timer because I had a choice to opt out. I'd hate to trivialise anyone else's experience, so feel the need to insert the rider that I'm not trying to speak about anyone else's experience, and heartfelt apologies if anyone feels I'm trivialising where they're at - it's not my intention.

Things that I believed unobtainable three years ago (I was sectioned in late 2003, sobered up & my symptoms went early- to mid-2004) now seem like realistic goals. In 2003, I was utterly bereft of any form of hope whatsoever. My life was bleak and shit, and the only way I could see of realistically staying alive for any length of time at all was dragging my (student neuroscientist) girlfriend down with me, destroying her life in order to mildly improve my lot, building a dependency on her so she felt too guilty to leave. Without her, I felt like my life would be all but over. To say life felt bleak would be the understatement of the century - if I'd had the balls when she left, I would have tried suicide. If I had a means I could've been certain of, I'm not sure I wouldn't be dead. My cousin is.

What you said about having been a medical student really rang true for me, 118118. I'd lost a degree at Warwick, a couple of amazing women, countless potential jobs, everything I owned.

In the last 2.5yrs, I've regained hope and regained a life. I've had 2 employers and been a student for 2yrs; both the employers were outstandingly supportive (though one was - admittedly - a drug and alcohol agency, the other was Tesco's...) and so was the uni.

Working through in small steps, I've got the job I could barely dream of 2yrs ago and have set my sights higher. I've landed a first class BSc, broadened my social horizons, have had a couple of disastrous but enjoyable relationships, and have grown like a person like I wouldn't've believed possible. I'm applying for a scholarship / studentship to Cambridge uni. That is so far beyond my dreams, ambitions or expectations I don't have words for it. Even 2yrs ago, I thought I was permanently brain damaged. Most importantly, I've discovered me, woo! And a sizeable part of that has been the counselling course I've been doing since September.

Whatever path you ultimately take - don't lower your ambitions or lose sight of hope. Just because you're not where you were at a while back doesn't mean you have to settle for jobs you'd be unhappy with or lower your ambitions. I've got a huge amount of faith in people - it's fantastic to hear you're going down the path you've taken, and heartfelt best of luck :)

[/ramble]
 
'What am I now'. Or maybe that's just the shrink rap
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I'm not entirely if you mean this, but I did completely self identify as a "schizophrenic" a while back. Tbh I felt like I had little other choice, as I could not make sense of what was happening otherwise. I've since read a bit of radical psychology, so its not quite as it was and I feel free to criticise my conception of myself, but its not something I feel capable of completely discarding. Madness was a big deal when I was younger, my brother got sectioned when I was a teenager, and one of the most imoprtanat things to me was not top let the same thing happen to me. I was lost when it did. Without the events of the last few years, I have no way of connecting myself to who I was, maybe; certainly difficult to explain how I interact with people - and my anxities.

Tbh I would prefer to get some kind of training for something at the moment, if thats possible. Driving sounds ok, but I'm a bit scared of driving on the motorways. Not sure if I still have a driving license tbh :( :mad: (though I'm not really bothered by that now)

trivialising schizophrenia
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no not at all - there's plenty of people worse off than me.

Thanks.
 
I think I was referring to my own experience of self judgement, which kept me back for a very long time. I still can't help but think there's some madness in me, borderline pathology etc. In some ways doing my course is pretty hellish. But I can balance these ideas against some consistent experience of functioning more than adequately. I didn't give myself the chance to do that for a long time. Being ill, mixing with other people that were ill, along with people intent on supporting and curing ill people around them... it rather took over from the usual preoccupations all the 'healthy' people have.

I guess I'd boil my recover down to having taken opportunities to get neurotic in the way that the majority are: money, work, love, worries of family, does my bum look big in this etc.

It's all taken me a long time and still sometimes isn't easy, but I now feel I've a right to a life I'd never have considered when my experiences of treatment were fresh.
 
i'm probably going to get a 2.2 now. bit worried about what work i will be able to find. i'll probably be out of work for a couple of years. does anyone have any reasonable advice to cheer me up.
 
118118 said:
i'm probably going to get a 2.2 now. bit worried about what work i will be able to find. i'll probably be out of work for a couple of years. does anyone have any reasonable advice to cheer me up.
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Not sure if it will cheer you up, But I certainly feel better now I'm out of work and on DLA. I've got schizo affective disorder, and all I could get were low paid menial jobs, as serious employers didn't want to know.

Probably thought I was going to turn physco on them or something.:rolleyes:
The country fucked me over, so now I doing it to the country claiming benefits, and I'm a darn site better off for it, not to mention more relaxed, as I can do more camping.

Try It, I can recommend it.:)
 
118118 said:
cheers weltweit. do you hate your job, what do you do?
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I worked in technical sales and marketing for about 15-20 years, the last 6 or so I have been self employed making websites etc for companies. Am hoping to go back to sales and marketing to be honest because self employment has not been a great success for me.

I have had roles that I have not liked and I am stubborn so I tend not to chuck in the towel to find a better job quickly enough.

I am sure you do not have to tell possible employers your complete medical history, certainly larger firms and schools and the suchlike may have a standard medical form which may ask such questions (are you on any medication for example) but smaller employers are just not that organsied.

Its important to target your efforts, it is a full time job to get a decent full time job imho.
 
kampaman: cheers thinks, i probably am drifting towards benefit, at the moment. tbh, the idea of work i don't enjoy is alot. i am very worried about being able to convince mh for my whole ife that I am too ill to work. But, i suppose that if they say i am, then i can always try for better qualifications - if and when, sort of thing. What do you think?
 
A 2.2 is a drinkers degree, it says that you are quite bright and that you had a good time while at Uni :-) a 2.1 is for those that drink less and had less of a good time too much time in the books and a 1 is anal retentives who were born with the right genes to do well at exams.

A 2.2 is fine .. don't sweat about it

After the first year when I had not really realised that all assignments counted toward the final score I already had myself pegged that I could not get a 1 .... without really realising it I was degraded.
 
118118 said:
kampaman: cheers thinks, i probably am drifting towards benefit, at the moment. tbh, the idea of work i don't enjoy is alot. i am very worried about being able to convince mh for my whole ife that I am too ill to work. But, i suppose that if they say i am, then i can always try for better qualifications - if and when, sort of thing. What do you think?
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Absolutely. At the very least being on benefits for a while will give you chance to collect your thoughts, and have a long think about what you want to do without the pressures of work.

Also you can get free college courses if your on income support. Just because i'm on benefits doesn't mean to say I'm lazy. I've completed three courses so far, carpentry/joinery, plumbing and heating, and vehicle bodywork fabrication.

I've enjoyed doing all of them with know pressure, and if I do get a bit bored, I can always do some cash in hand work with my new skills. (You have to be careful though obviously,and think about where your working. and above all trust no one! ) If you can get DLA, (which you should do with a diagnosis of any serious mental illness) You have a much better standard of living,as you get other disability supplements too.

To get DLA though you have to make sure they understand that you need someone to watch out for you, and keep an eye on you most of the time. I made myself sound a right loon on the application form. but with a proven diagnosis of schizo affective disorder, there is now way they can prove how good or bad you are. :lol:

For once I made my illness work for me. ;) I only have to reclaim every five years, so it's not too bad. As I said, I enjoy camping alot, and with the extra I get through DLA, it allows me to get away and chill out when I like.

Trouble is, I think some people with disability's of any sort feel guilty if they don't work,or maybe they think people will belittle them for being on benefits. so they get jobs when they don't really feel up to it, and it makes them more depressed. But honestly, most don't give a shit. And you always have the option not to tell them.

It's your life, do what your heart tells you, and to hell with what others think. I feel much more contented now, and my mental health has improved a hell of alot without the pressures of having to work. Now I just do it if I fancy it.:)
 
that hurts, to hear someone say i couldn't get a 1st, well, it doesn't hurt, but it fucks my life up, to be sure.
 
kampaman: not sure tbh, i felt like i shouldn't really start claiming (for slightly mad reasons tbh), but, not sure if i care, really. i appreciate that some people will hate me, my twin brother e.g., but i don't think I care about that. you see, i've never begrudged someone being on benefits... and tbh i'm sure its it'll be middle class tosspts who have a problem with it, and not many others. i mean, you've got to be a little retarded to think that someone with schizophrenia shouldn't be on benefits... do they know how bad people can get ffs? Ignorance doesn't bother me, but I would like security. And money tbh, but, fuck it, you know.
 
Did you have your heart set on a first?

Surely it must have become apparent when you were getting B and perhaps sometimes C on your assignments that you were not headed for straight A and a first ? no ?

I don't think it need limit your life at all.
A degree is a degree is a degree.

What did you do it in?
 
psychology/philosophy of science. i kinda assumed that it was possible, at the beginning of year 2. and after that i thought it was possible to get a 2.1. which would have been ok for my life. well, very fucking good tbh. there are jobs you can't apply for without a 2.1 and i'm not saying that i would have ever been well enough to do so, but you know, having that behind you would have made a real difference.
 
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