12/21/2023 0 Comments 2019 turbotax![]() ![]() ![]() I continuously update my skills to make myself more marketable (I just finished a certificate program in May), but schizophrenia is a wild card. I'm sure there are those people who believe I am lazy or that I don't want to work. That doesn't even include all the other yearly exams necessary for a woman my age. The cost of my disability is unpredictableĮven with the steps I take to manage my finances, I may not be able to afford the treatment my illness requires, like regular appointments with a psychiatrist, lab work, therapy, and medication. ![]() Also, when given a writing deadline, when I am feeling well, I work on it as soon as possible to ensure that I will still meet the deadline if I have a symptomatic day. For example, I don't schedule too many things in one day. ![]() I can better manage all of my symptoms when I am at home, and I have much more control over my time. Working from home gives me the best chance of meeting deadlines and teaching workshops or leading classes on Zoom. The hard truth is that I would have to seek housing with a family member without my husband's income. That makes a 9-to-5 job almost impossible without flexibility and accommodation.ĭuring the pandemic, when everything went online, many doors opened for me, but I can't afford the necessities even with all the side gigs I have pieced together. I rely on my spouse's income for our healthcare and housing because, like others with chronic paranoid schizophrenia or other disabilities, I can't predict when my symptoms will be at their worst. Although I love everything I do, I can't cobble enough work together to pay for my medical care or housing. I currently have four regular part-time jobs, and I am a freelance writer. I subscribe to a remote job listing newsletter and pay for subscriptions to newsletters with calls for writers. I can't seem to find a flexible job to accommodate the limitations of my illness. I lasted less than two hours in the warehouse and less than two weeks as an usher before I was overwhelmed by symptoms at work and had to leave mid-shift to avoid a more severe episode. I've attempted jobs I thought would be more physical and less stressful, like ushering at plays and events in my city and working in a warehouse. Since 2006, I've tried over and over again to go to work full-time. I'm not able to support myself financially because of my disability, which has been crushing to my self esteem. I had far more limitations than previously. But then I had a severe psychotic episode in 2006.Īfter that episode, I never recovered the level of functioning I had before. My disability has kept me from earning money in adulthoodĪfter college, I worked full-time as a marketing assistant at an architectural firm, a public services coordinator in a library, and marketing at a senior community. I also had money for things like lip gloss and seeing "Star Wars" seven times the year it came out (going to the movies was much less expensive back then). Growing up, I had money to go for sub sandwiches for lunch with friends or to spend an evening playing arcade games at the best pizza place in town. I was able to start earning and saving money for the things I wanted to do. In other words, I've spent all but a few years of my life as someone who could and did make money and start thinking about financial planning. Later in high school and college, I worked in a salmon hatchery for two seasons, and I had a job as an event coordinator and conducted surveys door-to-door. I first started with babysitting, stuffing envelopes, and cleaning apartments for the landlord of a building we lived in. I've worked a variety of odd jobs since junior high. ![]()
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