Lived Experience Forum

[CL88]

I’m an introverted person who at 37 still lives at home with parents and is unemployed. I’m feeling incompetent at anything that I do. I had a previous job of only 2 and a half weeks before I had paranoia and left. I feel like I can’t be around people for long as I’m always overthinking people’s body language and interpreting them the wrong way. I’ve had bad thoughts about life and just not wanting to continue. I’m on low motivation and not feeling social at all. I get scared every time I job seek because of how I’ll fail at the job. I previously had a job offer which caused me a lot of anxiety as it was a job dealing with kids and adults. So I ended up declining it. I’m always wanting to sleep to past the time and can barely stay awake during the day to do anything. Looking at my past I’ve only had a job for just over a year as the longest period. The past few jobs have been only for a few short weeks. I’ve previously suffered from mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, psychosis and bipolar disorder. I just feel like I want a way out. 

[DownTown]

Hey @CL88 

Sounds like a really rough ride everyday for yourself. Are you engaged with a professional at all? Maybe someone in the forum has had experience with possible mood stabilisers. I am sure that maybe something you could discuss with a doctor.

There are some great people here, that no doubt will be able to steer you towards some resources that can hopefully help.

You are in a place where people care here. Stay strong.

[Eve7]

Thanks for sharing @CL88  that is very brave of you to be so open.

There are lots of people here who will willingly share their lived experience. I also hope you are locked in with some professional help to assist with your mood.

Welcome to Sane and I hope Christmas has been kind to you.

[NatureLover]

Welcome, @CL88 

I'm sorry to hear you are suffering paranoia and other conditions. 

Do you have any professional support? There's a lot of help out there.

You can type anything into the Search bar above to find threads on that topic. Also, a handy forum tip to tag someone is to type @ and then click on their name in the drop-down box - that way they'll get a notification that you've replied to them. 

[RoseGeranium]

Do you know if you can get a disability support pension while living with your parents?  Can they rent you a room then you can claim that on the DSP?  It sounds like it might be a really good option for you so that if you do have to take on work, you only take up to 29 hours a week then you can always fall back on the pension as a safeguard.  I understand the paranoia etc, it's really hard.  I think that's when I can tell that my bipolar is particularly bad in the workplace.  Does your employer have free counselling as well through an Employment Assistance Program [EAP]?

[CL88]

@DownTown I'm on medications but they are antipsychotics. @NatureLover Yes I do have professionals who help me out but I'm just concerned about expressing my thoughts sometimes to them in case they tell my parents about it making them concerned.

@RoseGeranium My parents are against me getting DSP cause they don't want me to live off that money and not want to look for work and stay at home all day. I thought for DSP you qualify if you can't work more than 15 hours per week for the next 2 years.

[RoseGeranium]

I had read that you can work up to 29 hours a week via this website:

https://www.everyonecanwork.org.au/employment-support/dsp/impact-of-income/

The DSP is meant to catch people who may fall down every now and again.  For example: I might choose to take on 6 month assignments to help tidy up a workplace/their work in my role, then rest for 2 months to get over it and the DSP provides me with money for those two months.

You might find that 20 hours a week could suit you, and after the 15 hours you might have your DSP reduced a wee bit, but that's explained in the link above.  You're not isolated to those 15 hours.

See the DSP as a safety net to help boost your confidence.

xo Rose.

[CL88]

@RoseGeranium Thanks for clarifying. I'll look into it. Thanks heaps x

[RoseGeranium]

My pleasure!  If in doubt, call Centrelink and ask for a social worker when they ask for the reason for your call to clear things up on exactly how it all works.  Take notes perhaps and take that to your parents so that they're at ease.  I need to know more about this pension myself....! xo Rose.

[NatureLover]

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@CL88 wrote:

@NatureLover Yes I do have professionals who help me out but I'm just concerned about expressing my thoughts sometimes to them in case they tell my parents about it making them concerned.

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I would hope that due to confidentiality, your therapist wouldn't contact your parents @CL88 . Can you run it by your therapist just to be sure? That way you could be more open in therapy and get more benefit from it...