So...After having a nervous breakdown (read as: several very strong anxiety attacks) at work, my therapist says that I shouldn't be working in such a stressful environment. Meanwhile, my allergenist said that my job was literally killing me. So...I quit. (Okay, it wasn't that simple. There was a lot going on that was sort of shady and I left for many reasons.) When I asked my therapist how I should be getting my income, she told me I should apply for disability. o.o Holywhat. *panic* I'm only 26 and my only real disability is PTSD (No, not military, before anyone asks, and no, sorry, not interested into going into detail). Its not that I'm physically unable to work. I always thought of disability as something for folks who were physically unable. My father-in-law is so amazingly anti-government, he'd actually consider disowning his son if we took a "hand-out from the government *razzlefrazzlegrumble*". Guys, I'm so amazingly nervous now. I've been trying to figure out what to do. My husband and I have had a few ideas. I've been selling things on Ebay and Amazon to help cover bills, though financially, we're going to be pretty stable for the next 6 months or so. (Hurrah, emergency planning!) All my skills are in an area where I can't work now. We did have an idea to sell small animal and rabbit hideaways/beds on Etsy, but I am so nervous we'd fail, I feel like I've gone cross-eyed. So...I guess, advice?
Try to find a very non stressful job something like record/book keeping or something of the sorts Trust me I know all to well of stress is the work force and I do record keeping for all my own files and it was a get away for me sometimes lol. to the point I would look forward to the quiet of it and just some alone time.. sad I know..
I know plenty of people who are on disability for mental illness. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and unfortunately, bigoted father-in-law makes it harder on you. Just take it one step at a time. I don't quite understand the situation as my family has been extremely supportive in my case of disability and recovery and whatnot. But you have to do what's best for you. You need to make sure that you take care of yourself. Going on disability is most likely the best way to do that, for now. You don't want unnecessary anxiety over family being unsupportive. I would say that cutting them out is the best way to do that, but it's not only affecting you; it affects your husband as well. I'm trying really hard to offer viable suggestions right now but I can't come up with anything right now. Communication is always good. I'll keep thinking about it.
Do you feel like you're making decent progress in therapy? Because, unless you're really going to apply for disability, you really need to learn to take care of yourself and your feelings. And if you were granted disability support, you'd be able to take your time getting yourself together without any financial worries. It might feel shameful, but it's no death sentence I'm sure you'll get better in time. By the way, does you country fund students in any way? You could try and study for a more suitable job in peace then. One subject that comes to mind is gardening, or herbology. I worked in a flower shop for a few summers, and even though the bosses were awful I loved it. Lovely, mostly elderly customers to serve. And for the rest of the day I just water plants or sweep. If that's not therapeutic then nothing is :yup:
Thank you all for your support. I have been thinking about going back to school...something like bookkeeping - one of my friends suggested marketing or graphic design, although those kind of scare me. I'm willing to give it a shot, however. As far as therapy, its going fairly well. I'm just at a difficult time in it, where I'm starting to recover some memories that are fairly unpleasant, though my therapist assures me its normal now that I'm not actively trying to suppress things. I might be able to get a job in a green house...we have a fair amount around here! In fact, we even have one in our tiny town. I imagine my knowledge of fish would be useful for the folks with ponds and whatnot. And I know plants pretty well from having planted fish tanks. (I'm not as good with completely land based plants, but I imagine I could get better in time!)