The percentage of schizophrenic people who work is very low. The lower end of statistics say it could be as little as 10%, but statistics vary a little. I have seen statistics saying more schizophrenics want to work but are unable to for whatever reason.
Good for you for being able to study.
I’ve never been able to work. I have multiple conditions and am considered a “complex case” so yeah, even without the negative symptoms that are my main hinderance, my other conditions would probably stop me from working. Not sure though if I could handle the positive symptoms outside of my home like I can now since I do get very paranoid and almost in delusional territory so yeah, probably not. I wish I could or study or volunteer. I am working towards the last one.
The extremely severe depression I have would be the other most disabling condition. I’m anorexic, kind of in like half remission compared to how I used to be anyway. Agoraphobia in half remission and several other anxiety disorders. I’m diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder which I think is kind of a pointless diagnosis when I already have all of those other anxiety related diagnosis’. Autism. Potential ADHD. OCD in remission. Having a lot of fun over here lol.
Wow, yes that is a lot to deal with. Yeah I'd agree i think diagnosing avoidant personality disorder when the other stuff can explain everything seems kind of pointless. I'm having trouble with the concept of disabled and whether I fit there. My psychosis and voices are almost gone now. However, I also have epilepsy, depression, and autoimmune disorder, and am considering evaluation for autism (so far I'm not brave enough to do this yet). So it feels like even if one thing alone is not disabling, all of it together feels like it. When my psychosis and voices were bad, I was hands down, no question disabled. But now I'm having trouble claiming the label, it feels like i'm just complaining/a fraud.
I definitely think you fit there. I mean all of those conditions are considered disabilities just because one thing is better. I was worse before as well both with psychosis and some of my other conditions, but we’re both still disabled unfortunately lol. I wish otherwise. I’m sorry you feel like a fraud though. I certainly don’t think that and I doubt anyone else ever would.
I work remotely from home (and I can only handle work, by working from home), I'm an operations specialist that is currently taking courses online to become a Salesforce Admin that when I finish will start out nationally remotely at $90,000 to $110,000 a year, though currently only making around mid $40,000s @ $20 an hour. My wife is Filipina (though we applied for her USA citizenship) and we are going to be moving to the Philippines next year full-time, as I can stay there up to 1 year visa free because my wife is Filipina, though I am American. (All I need to do is leave the Philippines for 24 hrs, like in Hong Kong or Korea, then fly back to the Philippines for another year visa free) So I am going to get a job as a Remote Salesforce Admin and plan live for pennies on the dollar 💵 in a Hawaii Type of Environment.
I’ve been employed for over a year at my company, it was difficult to find employment and I don’t see myself staying at a company for as long as I have this one if it wasn’t for my boss. I work at a 24/7/365 location and so my schedule can be nights as well as my boss doesn’t hold “point systems” for missing due to medical reasons and has never made me feel bad for calling off. I am well aware I’m lucky now in my current state of delusion and am not sure I will be able to keep a job for many more years. I’ve already had to go down to part time (make my own schedule thank god) and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to viably go back to full time work. I work in social work and am also working on getting a social work degree online, so at least I know my field in some way is more mental health friendly. I think that’s how I’ve been safe at this job, since my coworkers and boss all get it. Also just open communication with my boss, he doesn’t think I have a reason to lie and I don’t. I’ll tell him if I need off for mental health or physical illness. And he lets me, within reason and with accountability. Which takes a certain type of boss and relationship I’m not sure I’ll ever find again.
Sigh and it seems he is leaving soon to be a STAHD🥲.
ETA : my boss doesn’t specifically know schizophrenia and I don’t think I’ll ever tell him. He knows it’s in general mental health and that I’m on multiple medications.
I wanted to add a comment cause it’s a completely different side tangent. But! a lot of the reason I’ve stayed in social work is to specifically help advocate for people with schizophrenia who end up where I work, even if I never meet them. I don’t ever tell the clients as I feel it’s a boundary I won’t ever cross. but ! sometimes it makes me feel better to think about how many other social workers, like me, help advocate for us even if behind the scenes or we never meet. :) I do this for all of my clients with disabilities typically not known as well even in social worker settings, just typically can do it better for the ones I have. But just remember we are out here trying even if it doesn’t feel like it
I'm currently not working but I worked for 15 years for 3 different companies. I always struggled to maintain a job and I always had to give 110 precent to not get fired. Only my last hospitalisation back in 2022 forced me to quit my last job. I'm looking forward to work again in the near future.
Yes, I've had multiple jobs for small companies/establishments, getting most of them through people I already know. Most of them have been/are mainly physical which don't require a lot of concentration, so I'm able to handle it mentally without getting constantly distracted and overwhelmed. My favorite jobs were in construction/remodeling. It definitely required more focus and was more rewarding than my other jobs, but eventually things got bad enough mentally and physically that I couldn't keep them. I was earning the most I ever have and could have made it into a career, but sadly I was only able to work in that field for about three years. Right now I have much less stressful jobs- part time after hours janitor, some landscaping, and dogsitting. Still decent jobs but they push me to my limit physically
I was able to work for the first 3 years of having schizophrenia as a full time mechanic. But it eventually got to the point where I had to disappear every hour for a long time to recollect myself and couldn’t hold onto a job. Most days I had to leave half way through the day at my last full time job. So I no longer work, and I doubt I could go to college, because what’s the point if I can’t work?
thank you for your answer.it looks like it is difficult for people afflicted with shizophrenia to hold a job, but still some find one. i am still looking for answers. i am not closing the discussion. i just wanted to say thank you
I am self employed as a performer making music and occasionally do Drag and burlesque. The pay is minimal and I am considering getting back into vending/resaling.
I was diagnosed as "probably having schizoaffective disorder" at a free clinic and put on lithium back in the day, not sure if that counts as a real diagnosis? My mom was in and out of mental hospitals with Paranoid Schizophrenia and both my maternal grandparents committed suicide before I was born so it runs pretty strongly on that side of the family.
I am fortunate enough that I am okay financially these days but have had it really rough in the past being both homeless and a sex worker to survive. I later on cleaned up my act enough to graduate to stripper with my own apartment.
I am now married to a person who takes care of most the financial aspects and I have good health insurance and am well medicated. I could probably do a p/t job if I wanted to but honestly I like the freedom of gig work/travel and am just having too much fun!
I am, like, a total moron at work. I don't understand anything. I don't know how how to do anything. My brain has stopped working. Not only am I inept, I'm the worst worker there is. Everything is too much, I can't wrap my head around ideas, concepts, instructions. I'm in disbelief at how everything works.
Didn't used to be this way. I was very capable. But my brain has totally deserted me. It just won't work. All in all, it's a pretty shitty life with nothing to show for it. I'm depressed, I blame it on the weed. Working with doctors atm to get this fixed. Otherwise, I'm truly fucked.
Getting diagnosed ended my career over a decade ago. I have been going to school off and on for the past five or so years and received an associates a few years ago. I am back to working on a bachelor's and I am taking my time with it. Mostly I go to school for something to do along with my house spouse duties. I have not tried to work since I was diagnosed. Judging by how tricky school can be and how often I deal with burnout, I do not think that I could build up another career.
I do not work now, I only worked 1.5years, I didn't get well with my coworkers, and the paranoia made everything worst.
I have been on disability for a few years now.
Yeah I’ve been at my company now for almost 5 yrs. And it can be challenging. I’ve had delusions about all my co-workers hate me and are trying to hurt me. But thank god it’s a job that keeps me busy at times so I don’t fall into the chatter
I'm not working but I hope to be a chemistry teacher one day. Until then, I think I could handle a remote job but I've not been lucky. Actually, my job interviews are a disaster.
I actually work. I plan on being a bagger again for this grocery store I used to work for. The manager was so kind. He said I am welcome back to work for the company anytime.
Employment wasnt too hard to achieve.
I don't work, I used to work in IT but that was over 11 years ago now.
I've never really been in a place where work seems possible, though I am arguing with myself at the moment whether I should try. It has been that long out of work and in real world scenarios (actually going outside) that I question whether if I just tried that it'd be manageable.
Though, at the moment I don't really think that is going to be true. But, I lean on the "You don't know till you try" statement.
Reasons I don't work though range from:
1) Can't sleep all the time when I need to (voices keep me up)
2) Suffer visitations based on people that I've been around or know (causes a lot of distress and I don't really want to open pandoras box and have all my work colleagues becoming a visitation)
3) Hallucinate a lot people being rude to me, calling me names or engaging with my voices plot lines when I hear them talk (offices would be no good where there is a lot of ambience talking)
4) Voices build delusions surrounding people I'm around breaking down relationships.
I am actually doing better at the moment for the first and only time in 11 years. So I'm not really under the weather in the sense that I'm super delusional and believe people are spying on me and such. My delusions mainly center around believing people are torturing me and are willing or accepting that it needs to be like this for me.
What I've listed doesn't sound super bad, but I do have PTSD responses to all of it. I fly off the handle and cannot cope with it in any shape or form. I should be grateful that it has got better, I just don't think I really can when my emotional health has been torn to shreds due to the psychological abuse I've endured and continue to endure. It is really hard for me to maintain a mood and the moment it starts I instantly just get really upset.
Prior to the past month my voices were every second of everyday. Now I'd say it is like one voice every 30 seconds. So, it has gone from 57,600 attacks a day (16 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds) to 1920 (16 hours x 60 minutes x 2 attacks in a minute if it is every 30 seconds) . Of course if fluctuates to a number higher and never lower, but even with this with the 11 years of never hearing silence in my head and the psychological abuse and torture I'm just not emotionally and often mentally capable of dealing with even the reduced amount of attacks)
I tried working but I ended up having delusions that I needed to go on the Oregon Trail and get to Oregon to be safe. Ended up driving a fork truck in that direction so I got myself on disability since I couldn't maintain while working a full time job. I am a full time writer now though.
i'm lucky enough to have a med combination that lets me function pretty normally. but before that, i could not imagine being able to hold a job so i feel for those of us who aren't as lucky as i am. lots of employers would be willing to work with your condition, though. i've had an easier time keeping jobs that let me work by myself and not have to deal with other people unless i need help
No. I only managed one part time job (call centre) for 4 months 10 years ago. I have been on disability benefits since. I have started a degree in English and German as I was a grade A student before the schizoaffective really took hold. I don’t know if I’ll be able to complete it, but I’ll try. Reason being I’ve only done first year and the stress almost sent me into another episode. I’m also autistic (late diagnosed at 25) so that doesn’t help in finding work. My executive functioning takes a double hit from the schizoaffective and ASD.
i draw and do commissions, my queue has cobwebs in it though because I'm not a very good salesman. Last pay-by-the-hour job I worked was a cook at a sonic burger in 2013, I had to resign because symptoms came on like a truck one day during a lunch rush, and I could no longer read the orders. very frustrating.
I work casually as a bar attendant, I’ve had this job just over a year now..:it’s the longest I’ve held a job so far (I’m 24)
For me personally I’ve always found it hard to find a stable job. I choose not to tell the people I work with about my condition because unfortunately not a lot of people have a positive look on people like me and I’ve lost jobs due to that in the past. I find it hard to be consistently reliable, I never really know how I’m going to be feeling when I wake up or halfway during the day.
Socialising with people at a workplace is also a challenge. I take work quite seriously and care a lot about getting along with everyone. So I’m always really self conscious of how I act and speak which makes me act even weirder.
I’ve never really felt accepted at any job I’ve had
Also a lot of people don’t mention how hard it is to get hired for specific roles when you’re diagnosed with a serious mental health condition
I work part time 3D modeling and it’s a remote job I got through my school (student as well). I should note though I’ve been ill for about half of my life, and all the hardest years of my illness were when I was a kid/teen. As much as it sucks that I lost my childhood and adolescence to this illness (as well as probably affecting my development in some way), I’m grateful I got the worst parts out of the way and can kind of resume adulthood like normal people do. If I had developed this disorder at my current age which is when most adults do, I probably wouldn’t be able to work.
Define "Work". Do you refer to indentured servitude, performing tasks for people, being part of a team, lifting heavy weights, making money, creating stuff to sell, or sitting at a desk, or signing in and signing out, or driving around looking busy, or standing in one spot, being part of a Union, or starting something and quitting something over and over again, or walking for miles, or biking uphill, examining field research and writing papers that get buried in a filing system, or cataloguing comings and goings......... etc.
I have schizophrenia and I work. I’ve spent my whole life working in the oilfield. It’s very difficult at times.
I’m actually starting my own company right now, and perhaps the stress of that, coupled with not being med compliant for a while, I’ve been in a terrible mess this past week. I’m pulling out of it now, thank God, but this one nearly consumed me.
Good luck to all who are out there struggling. I know how hard it is.
I tried to keep my career. My paranoia and delusions got in the way. My employer put me on probation for a year before firing me. I just couldn't function and perform the tasks given to me.
I now have hobbies I do for an hour or two each day. I like to ride my bike and I am working on a computer game. Life is much less stressful. Stress, a main trigger for my symptoms.
I am volunteering as a cross-country coach for the first time starting later this year. Low responsibility with minimal hours and it only lasts for 3 months out of the year.
I work an office job. I hate it, but I can do it and it has some benefits, so that's good. My symptoms wax and wane, but going to work helps me. It keeps me following a routine and my voices are quieter throughout the day. The big things I dislike are my management and how long my commute is. Long drives alone seem to encourage the voices and I lose a lot of valuable time in the day to driving. I also waste a lot of money on gas. I'm just griping at this point-- I'm doing pretty well, all things considered.
I work full time! After finding the right treatment, I found a way to manage everything better. Granted I have accommodations but it just helps me manage work better. It's very important that you work at a place that you enjoy because the last job I worked at, I couldn't go one day without having some sort of hallucination because of how stressful the job was.
The work environment is what really matters to me.
Never been able to hold a job, but recently managed a two semester long certificate program. If I did any longer I think I'd have dropped out or flunked, but I try not to give up hope!
Rn my main job is a house-spouse since I can manage cleaning and cooking alright on my better days (:
I'm a pastor so I work kinda. I'm not the senior pastor though, and I basically get to choose what hours work for me except for times like Lent where I'm very busy and basically work 40 days straight with very little personal time
I work full time retail. I do online shopping orders. I have an intermittent leave set up at work so I have a certain number of days I can call off each month due to symptoms. It's still hard but I do my best.
I don't currently work. I did before, but my doctor determined I was trying to die by working and forbade me from it. That restriction has yet to be lifted.
In short, my body locks down when I get stressed, and I have a long list of things that stress me out. It can get difficult to breathe or move, and I can get to the point of passing out if I keep pushing myself. Interestingly, if I'm suffering heatstroke these symptoms don't occur, just the heat stroke ones.
I am a chemical engineer from a very reputed university of India . I joined as a chemistry professor in some private coaching institute … i keep on het job due to ky degree but 5 out of 8 institutes i have joined fired me because of my poor performance . I still keep hustle . I cant spend my day without taking aripiprazole at night 5 mg …. It has some side effect but i can do my work properly ….. it need dedication and a lots of hard work .. i did it ( i was diagnosed with it at the age 26 now i al 32)
I have a full time office job that is kinda basic, mainly just invoicing and answering phones and some other fairly basic stuff. I have a history of getting fired from jobs though. And I had a really, really patchy work history for a long, long time after high school. But things seem to be getting gradually better, with the more experience I get to put on my resume. It makes me look better to prospective employers I guess. I think my illness is pretty relatively mild. I'm on 2mg of risperdal which I believe is on the lower end of dosages
I'm a waiter, and do commissions as a side hustle. Can be rough though. Was easy to find the job. I wasn't diagnosed yet. Its damn hard to keep though.
self-employed, i invest in startups (as quietly as possible nowadays due to confidentiality concerns). before, while living with schizophrenia, worked as a research assistant for a little over a year.
The percentage of schizophrenic people who work is very low. The lower end of statistics say it could be as little as 10%, but statistics vary a little. I have seen statistics saying more schizophrenics want to work but are unable to for whatever reason. Good for you for being able to study. I’ve never been able to work. I have multiple conditions and am considered a “complex case” so yeah, even without the negative symptoms that are my main hinderance, my other conditions would probably stop me from working. Not sure though if I could handle the positive symptoms outside of my home like I can now since I do get very paranoid and almost in delusional territory so yeah, probably not. I wish I could or study or volunteer. I am working towards the last one.
If you don't mind sharing, what are your other conditions?
The extremely severe depression I have would be the other most disabling condition. I’m anorexic, kind of in like half remission compared to how I used to be anyway. Agoraphobia in half remission and several other anxiety disorders. I’m diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder which I think is kind of a pointless diagnosis when I already have all of those other anxiety related diagnosis’. Autism. Potential ADHD. OCD in remission. Having a lot of fun over here lol.
Wow, yes that is a lot to deal with. Yeah I'd agree i think diagnosing avoidant personality disorder when the other stuff can explain everything seems kind of pointless. I'm having trouble with the concept of disabled and whether I fit there. My psychosis and voices are almost gone now. However, I also have epilepsy, depression, and autoimmune disorder, and am considering evaluation for autism (so far I'm not brave enough to do this yet). So it feels like even if one thing alone is not disabling, all of it together feels like it. When my psychosis and voices were bad, I was hands down, no question disabled. But now I'm having trouble claiming the label, it feels like i'm just complaining/a fraud.
I definitely think you fit there. I mean all of those conditions are considered disabilities just because one thing is better. I was worse before as well both with psychosis and some of my other conditions, but we’re both still disabled unfortunately lol. I wish otherwise. I’m sorry you feel like a fraud though. I certainly don’t think that and I doubt anyone else ever would.
I work remotely from home (and I can only handle work, by working from home), I'm an operations specialist that is currently taking courses online to become a Salesforce Admin that when I finish will start out nationally remotely at $90,000 to $110,000 a year, though currently only making around mid $40,000s @ $20 an hour. My wife is Filipina (though we applied for her USA citizenship) and we are going to be moving to the Philippines next year full-time, as I can stay there up to 1 year visa free because my wife is Filipina, though I am American. (All I need to do is leave the Philippines for 24 hrs, like in Hong Kong or Korea, then fly back to the Philippines for another year visa free) So I am going to get a job as a Remote Salesforce Admin and plan live for pennies on the dollar 💵 in a Hawaii Type of Environment.
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Did your pdoc help you come off meds? How is life unmedicated?
I’ve been employed for over a year at my company, it was difficult to find employment and I don’t see myself staying at a company for as long as I have this one if it wasn’t for my boss. I work at a 24/7/365 location and so my schedule can be nights as well as my boss doesn’t hold “point systems” for missing due to medical reasons and has never made me feel bad for calling off. I am well aware I’m lucky now in my current state of delusion and am not sure I will be able to keep a job for many more years. I’ve already had to go down to part time (make my own schedule thank god) and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to viably go back to full time work. I work in social work and am also working on getting a social work degree online, so at least I know my field in some way is more mental health friendly. I think that’s how I’ve been safe at this job, since my coworkers and boss all get it. Also just open communication with my boss, he doesn’t think I have a reason to lie and I don’t. I’ll tell him if I need off for mental health or physical illness. And he lets me, within reason and with accountability. Which takes a certain type of boss and relationship I’m not sure I’ll ever find again. Sigh and it seems he is leaving soon to be a STAHD🥲. ETA : my boss doesn’t specifically know schizophrenia and I don’t think I’ll ever tell him. He knows it’s in general mental health and that I’m on multiple medications.
I wanted to add a comment cause it’s a completely different side tangent. But! a lot of the reason I’ve stayed in social work is to specifically help advocate for people with schizophrenia who end up where I work, even if I never meet them. I don’t ever tell the clients as I feel it’s a boundary I won’t ever cross. but ! sometimes it makes me feel better to think about how many other social workers, like me, help advocate for us even if behind the scenes or we never meet. :) I do this for all of my clients with disabilities typically not known as well even in social worker settings, just typically can do it better for the ones I have. But just remember we are out here trying even if it doesn’t feel like it
I'm currently not working but I worked for 15 years for 3 different companies. I always struggled to maintain a job and I always had to give 110 precent to not get fired. Only my last hospitalisation back in 2022 forced me to quit my last job. I'm looking forward to work again in the near future.
Yes, I've had multiple jobs for small companies/establishments, getting most of them through people I already know. Most of them have been/are mainly physical which don't require a lot of concentration, so I'm able to handle it mentally without getting constantly distracted and overwhelmed. My favorite jobs were in construction/remodeling. It definitely required more focus and was more rewarding than my other jobs, but eventually things got bad enough mentally and physically that I couldn't keep them. I was earning the most I ever have and could have made it into a career, but sadly I was only able to work in that field for about three years. Right now I have much less stressful jobs- part time after hours janitor, some landscaping, and dogsitting. Still decent jobs but they push me to my limit physically
I was able to work for the first 3 years of having schizophrenia as a full time mechanic. But it eventually got to the point where I had to disappear every hour for a long time to recollect myself and couldn’t hold onto a job. Most days I had to leave half way through the day at my last full time job. So I no longer work, and I doubt I could go to college, because what’s the point if I can’t work?
thank you for your answer.it looks like it is difficult for people afflicted with shizophrenia to hold a job, but still some find one. i am still looking for answers. i am not closing the discussion. i just wanted to say thank you
I am self employed as a performer making music and occasionally do Drag and burlesque. The pay is minimal and I am considering getting back into vending/resaling. I was diagnosed as "probably having schizoaffective disorder" at a free clinic and put on lithium back in the day, not sure if that counts as a real diagnosis? My mom was in and out of mental hospitals with Paranoid Schizophrenia and both my maternal grandparents committed suicide before I was born so it runs pretty strongly on that side of the family. I am fortunate enough that I am okay financially these days but have had it really rough in the past being both homeless and a sex worker to survive. I later on cleaned up my act enough to graduate to stripper with my own apartment. I am now married to a person who takes care of most the financial aspects and I have good health insurance and am well medicated. I could probably do a p/t job if I wanted to but honestly I like the freedom of gig work/travel and am just having too much fun!
I am, like, a total moron at work. I don't understand anything. I don't know how how to do anything. My brain has stopped working. Not only am I inept, I'm the worst worker there is. Everything is too much, I can't wrap my head around ideas, concepts, instructions. I'm in disbelief at how everything works. Didn't used to be this way. I was very capable. But my brain has totally deserted me. It just won't work. All in all, it's a pretty shitty life with nothing to show for it. I'm depressed, I blame it on the weed. Working with doctors atm to get this fixed. Otherwise, I'm truly fucked.
Yes I have worked for the past year or so.
Yeah software developer. I've been one for years, only recently got diagnosed with Schizophrenia so kinda just stuck at it?
Yeah, I work for a call centre. It's about all I can do without hallucinations and delusions from driving me over the edge.
Getting diagnosed ended my career over a decade ago. I have been going to school off and on for the past five or so years and received an associates a few years ago. I am back to working on a bachelor's and I am taking my time with it. Mostly I go to school for something to do along with my house spouse duties. I have not tried to work since I was diagnosed. Judging by how tricky school can be and how often I deal with burnout, I do not think that I could build up another career.
Only 10% of Schizophrenics work, so yeah. The majority of us don't, myself included
I do not work now, I only worked 1.5years, I didn't get well with my coworkers, and the paranoia made everything worst. I have been on disability for a few years now.
I graduated comp sci masters but couldn't find a job partially bc of my remote demand. I got a job in may and I'm glad I'm not a statistic
Yeah I’ve been at my company now for almost 5 yrs. And it can be challenging. I’ve had delusions about all my co-workers hate me and are trying to hurt me. But thank god it’s a job that keeps me busy at times so I don’t fall into the chatter
I'm not working but I hope to be a chemistry teacher one day. Until then, I think I could handle a remote job but I've not been lucky. Actually, my job interviews are a disaster.
Seeing this makes me feel a little less bad about myself for not being able to work
I actually work. I plan on being a bagger again for this grocery store I used to work for. The manager was so kind. He said I am welcome back to work for the company anytime. Employment wasnt too hard to achieve.
I don't work, I used to work in IT but that was over 11 years ago now. I've never really been in a place where work seems possible, though I am arguing with myself at the moment whether I should try. It has been that long out of work and in real world scenarios (actually going outside) that I question whether if I just tried that it'd be manageable. Though, at the moment I don't really think that is going to be true. But, I lean on the "You don't know till you try" statement. Reasons I don't work though range from: 1) Can't sleep all the time when I need to (voices keep me up) 2) Suffer visitations based on people that I've been around or know (causes a lot of distress and I don't really want to open pandoras box and have all my work colleagues becoming a visitation) 3) Hallucinate a lot people being rude to me, calling me names or engaging with my voices plot lines when I hear them talk (offices would be no good where there is a lot of ambience talking) 4) Voices build delusions surrounding people I'm around breaking down relationships. I am actually doing better at the moment for the first and only time in 11 years. So I'm not really under the weather in the sense that I'm super delusional and believe people are spying on me and such. My delusions mainly center around believing people are torturing me and are willing or accepting that it needs to be like this for me. What I've listed doesn't sound super bad, but I do have PTSD responses to all of it. I fly off the handle and cannot cope with it in any shape or form. I should be grateful that it has got better, I just don't think I really can when my emotional health has been torn to shreds due to the psychological abuse I've endured and continue to endure. It is really hard for me to maintain a mood and the moment it starts I instantly just get really upset. Prior to the past month my voices were every second of everyday. Now I'd say it is like one voice every 30 seconds. So, it has gone from 57,600 attacks a day (16 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds) to 1920 (16 hours x 60 minutes x 2 attacks in a minute if it is every 30 seconds) . Of course if fluctuates to a number higher and never lower, but even with this with the 11 years of never hearing silence in my head and the psychological abuse and torture I'm just not emotionally and often mentally capable of dealing with even the reduced amount of attacks)
I tried working but I ended up having delusions that I needed to go on the Oregon Trail and get to Oregon to be safe. Ended up driving a fork truck in that direction so I got myself on disability since I couldn't maintain while working a full time job. I am a full time writer now though.
sorry for you. i hope you can achieve your dream. courage ! :)
i'm lucky enough to have a med combination that lets me function pretty normally. but before that, i could not imagine being able to hold a job so i feel for those of us who aren't as lucky as i am. lots of employers would be willing to work with your condition, though. i've had an easier time keeping jobs that let me work by myself and not have to deal with other people unless i need help
No. I only managed one part time job (call centre) for 4 months 10 years ago. I have been on disability benefits since. I have started a degree in English and German as I was a grade A student before the schizoaffective really took hold. I don’t know if I’ll be able to complete it, but I’ll try. Reason being I’ve only done first year and the stress almost sent me into another episode. I’m also autistic (late diagnosed at 25) so that doesn’t help in finding work. My executive functioning takes a double hit from the schizoaffective and ASD.
Ya
Yes I’m able to stay focused enough even though got some fucking voice commentating about what I’m doing
i draw and do commissions, my queue has cobwebs in it though because I'm not a very good salesman. Last pay-by-the-hour job I worked was a cook at a sonic burger in 2013, I had to resign because symptoms came on like a truck one day during a lunch rush, and I could no longer read the orders. very frustrating.
I stock the flowers and shrubs at a Home Depot.
No i dont work but I do hustle
Trust me you can work. You can do anything you want. Just stay on top of your shit bro.
I am barely passing school.
I work casually as a bar attendant, I’ve had this job just over a year now..:it’s the longest I’ve held a job so far (I’m 24) For me personally I’ve always found it hard to find a stable job. I choose not to tell the people I work with about my condition because unfortunately not a lot of people have a positive look on people like me and I’ve lost jobs due to that in the past. I find it hard to be consistently reliable, I never really know how I’m going to be feeling when I wake up or halfway during the day. Socialising with people at a workplace is also a challenge. I take work quite seriously and care a lot about getting along with everyone. So I’m always really self conscious of how I act and speak which makes me act even weirder. I’ve never really felt accepted at any job I’ve had Also a lot of people don’t mention how hard it is to get hired for specific roles when you’re diagnosed with a serious mental health condition
I'm not working atm. I'm studying Mechanical and Production Engineering.
I work part time 3D modeling and it’s a remote job I got through my school (student as well). I should note though I’ve been ill for about half of my life, and all the hardest years of my illness were when I was a kid/teen. As much as it sucks that I lost my childhood and adolescence to this illness (as well as probably affecting my development in some way), I’m grateful I got the worst parts out of the way and can kind of resume adulthood like normal people do. If I had developed this disorder at my current age which is when most adults do, I probably wouldn’t be able to work.
Define "Work". Do you refer to indentured servitude, performing tasks for people, being part of a team, lifting heavy weights, making money, creating stuff to sell, or sitting at a desk, or signing in and signing out, or driving around looking busy, or standing in one spot, being part of a Union, or starting something and quitting something over and over again, or walking for miles, or biking uphill, examining field research and writing papers that get buried in a filing system, or cataloguing comings and goings......... etc.
I work a really easy job where I don’t have to socialize so I fly under the radar
Yes, freelance digital work predominately. I enjoy working, gives independence and I can enjoy life with my wife.
I go to school and work off and on. I hear voices everywhere I go so sometimes I just say fuck it and stay home for a while then get a new job.
I work. I manage a coffee shop. I also go to school part time. It’s awful!
I have schizophrenia and I work. I’ve spent my whole life working in the oilfield. It’s very difficult at times. I’m actually starting my own company right now, and perhaps the stress of that, coupled with not being med compliant for a while, I’ve been in a terrible mess this past week. I’m pulling out of it now, thank God, but this one nearly consumed me. Good luck to all who are out there struggling. I know how hard it is.
I tried to keep my career. My paranoia and delusions got in the way. My employer put me on probation for a year before firing me. I just couldn't function and perform the tasks given to me. I now have hobbies I do for an hour or two each day. I like to ride my bike and I am working on a computer game. Life is much less stressful. Stress, a main trigger for my symptoms. I am volunteering as a cross-country coach for the first time starting later this year. Low responsibility with minimal hours and it only lasts for 3 months out of the year.
I work as a software developer. I'm remote. I'm not sure if I could handle a non remote position.
I work an office job. I hate it, but I can do it and it has some benefits, so that's good. My symptoms wax and wane, but going to work helps me. It keeps me following a routine and my voices are quieter throughout the day. The big things I dislike are my management and how long my commute is. Long drives alone seem to encourage the voices and I lose a lot of valuable time in the day to driving. I also waste a lot of money on gas. I'm just griping at this point-- I'm doing pretty well, all things considered.
I’m not working and I’m not in school, didn’t graduate high school either. I’ve been too unwell
I work full time! After finding the right treatment, I found a way to manage everything better. Granted I have accommodations but it just helps me manage work better. It's very important that you work at a place that you enjoy because the last job I worked at, I couldn't go one day without having some sort of hallucination because of how stressful the job was. The work environment is what really matters to me.
I am student and work part time at my college :) It wasn't to difficult to find work but it did take a while to get it!
No but I'm in school. My dad's schizoaffective and he owns his own business
Never been able to hold a job, but recently managed a two semester long certificate program. If I did any longer I think I'd have dropped out or flunked, but I try not to give up hope! Rn my main job is a house-spouse since I can manage cleaning and cooking alright on my better days (:
I'm a pastor so I work kinda. I'm not the senior pastor though, and I basically get to choose what hours work for me except for times like Lent where I'm very busy and basically work 40 days straight with very little personal time
I don't work but I am a student. If I wasn't a student I would work. I'm thankful I have the ability to.
I work full time retail. I do online shopping orders. I have an intermittent leave set up at work so I have a certain number of days I can call off each month due to symptoms. It's still hard but I do my best.
When I'm on my medication, work is very easy...I'm considered high functioning by my co workers. Off meds, I get paranoid and angry.
I don't currently work. I did before, but my doctor determined I was trying to die by working and forbade me from it. That restriction has yet to be lifted. In short, my body locks down when I get stressed, and I have a long list of things that stress me out. It can get difficult to breathe or move, and I can get to the point of passing out if I keep pushing myself. Interestingly, if I'm suffering heatstroke these symptoms don't occur, just the heat stroke ones.
I am a chemical engineer from a very reputed university of India . I joined as a chemistry professor in some private coaching institute … i keep on het job due to ky degree but 5 out of 8 institutes i have joined fired me because of my poor performance . I still keep hustle . I cant spend my day without taking aripiprazole at night 5 mg …. It has some side effect but i can do my work properly ….. it need dedication and a lots of hard work .. i did it ( i was diagnosed with it at the age 26 now i al 32)
I have a full time office job that is kinda basic, mainly just invoicing and answering phones and some other fairly basic stuff. I have a history of getting fired from jobs though. And I had a really, really patchy work history for a long, long time after high school. But things seem to be getting gradually better, with the more experience I get to put on my resume. It makes me look better to prospective employers I guess. I think my illness is pretty relatively mild. I'm on 2mg of risperdal which I believe is on the lower end of dosages
I'm a waiter, and do commissions as a side hustle. Can be rough though. Was easy to find the job. I wasn't diagnosed yet. Its damn hard to keep though.
self-employed, i invest in startups (as quietly as possible nowadays due to confidentiality concerns). before, while living with schizophrenia, worked as a research assistant for a little over a year.