Poll Have You Worked Throughout Your Ptsd?

[p-no]

I have worked full-time but have had about three years in total when I was on sick leave for few weeks and once for a few months.

I am currently inquiring about going on disability. I am sure my financial situation won't allow it, but we'll see. I can not go on working full-time, so that's a dilemma.

 

[ericaboo]

I have always worked full time - technically - since I was 17.

However, I have always used nearly all my sick and vacation time for "mental health" days off (where I pretended to be physically sick)

I tend to get disciplined for poor attendance, and since I started actual treatment for PTSD, it is only through the grace of my wonderful boss that I have been able to keep my job...

 

[Hashi]

I like to hear that it's about self care, but I'm still bucking the idea of taking "just any job" to make ends meet. How did people go from a career to a job? Any practical advice on how to tackle the issues with feeling like a failure or that I 'deserve' more?

For a while I had to go from being an office manager to cleaning hotel rooms. It was the best thing I could have done. I did it well, I paid my bills, I went home and didn't think about it. Except for thinking that I had a lot more energy.

When I've worked as an office manager, I notice something over and over again. There are people who come in as first level administrators and think the job is beneath them because they deserve more. They're miserable for every minute. They show up, they spend any spare time on Facebook and emailing each other, they bitch about their jobs and lack of career prospects. They get away with it but no-one is impressed by them, including themselves.

The people who come in at the same level but are willing to do the job are completely different. Some are just starting out, some have other experience behind them and are doing this job now because it suits them for some reason. Some are travelling. some have responsibilities outside work that make them want to shift their work responsibilities down, some are recovering from a previous, too-stressful work situation. If they carry out this lower-level job as best they can, then either they get promoted very quickly or they stay doing the job properly and feeling self-esteem that they're taking it seriously and that's valued and appreciated. Then they get to go home and get on with the rest of their lives.

One or other of these options happens always, every single case. If someone accepts the level of the job they're doing, and does it appropriately, everyone's happy. If they resent it, it doesn't benefit anyone.

You can get a career back when you've grounded yourself enough to handle life.

Do you "need" all those expensive things, like two cars, etc.? Can you be happy with only two pairs of shoes or one car?

safenow, I love your whole post. I completely agree.

 

[just me here]

If they carry out this lower-level job as best they can, then either they get promoted very quickly or they stay doing the job properly and feeling self-esteem that they're taking it seriously and that's valued and appreciated. Then they get to go home and get on with the rest of their lives.

If someone accepts the level of the job they're doing, and does it appropriately, everyone's happy. If they resent it, it doesn't benefit anyone.
.

A bit off subject but you struck upon a truth that I have seen in coworkers and family members, basically everywhere I look. You will be happier and more successful if you accept that when you cross the sidewalk and enter the job site it doesn't matter if you are the CEO of General motors or the guy that mows the lawn in front of the CEO's office, you are there because you can make a buck for the owners or shareholders or whoever signs the paycheck. Maybe the lawn has to be mowed because someone with an architecture degree decided that the green space was a necessary addition to create the impression for potential business investors or partners that this building is occupied by a business that has a concern and connection to the environment and the attention to detail to keep the lawn nicely mowed. Who cares why?- You are being paid to mow the lawn by someone that thinks it is worth it to pay you to mow the lawn so be a lawn mower and get paid.

In college I worked a graveyard job pumping gas. Even near a major freeway it was a long boring night and some guys would do anything but stay busy washing windows or stocking product or sweeping the lot. They generally lasted a few months and got caught sleeping or worse and disappeared. I kept busy and started trying to sell extra services and I soon had a regular customer base of maybe 20 customers that would come in at 2 in the AM for oil changes and such because I was seldom too busy and always glad to see them. I didn't get any more pay for the 'extra' work I did, but I kept the job as long as I needed to and never had a night of sitting and hating my position.

Maybe that is a side benifit of PTSD, I like to stay busy so I don't have time to sit and think about the things i don't want to think about, and thats exactly what every boss that has ever hired me wanted from me, a universal truth for any boss for anyone.

When you take a job, take it to do it. If you resign yourself to a job you know is below your skills and pay level you have to get through it so do your best and get through it- all the time looking for an opportunity for that higher level work.

One more side note- When you are working below your skill level you will often find other people in similar situations and those of you that are working through it will recognize each other and you will recognize the slackers among you that are just punching the clock and trying to stay awake till the bell rings. When one of you finds the opportunity you are all looking for (hopefully it's you) there are often other opportunities in the same business and it is a positive to be networked with the other hardworking people you have met in the low paying "make do" job. No one is going to find the better job and then call the slackers they met at their old "make do" job and tell them about the great new opening they should apply for. That's not gonna happen.

Sorry about the side tracking of the thread, but I saw an opportunity to help- hope this does.

 

[who am i kim]

Being a mum I brought up the children then to help with the income into our family I went to work. Now unbeknown to me I did not know back then that I had CPSTD and I have never lasted in a job more than a year.

I work part time now and I am my own boss (mow lawns) if I am sick I can defer the mowing I also do not take on more than I can handle

 

[Deleted member 25333]

I used to work full-time but last year my burn-out became too much for me and I had to quit my job. I believe my burn-out was brought on by depression or PTSD or both because both of those things completely destroyed my mental and emotional health and now it's my bodies' turn to pay up.

 

[Survivor2Thriver]

I work full time. Always have always will. Nobody takes care of me except me. A lifelong hard core rule that will never change. :)

 

[Zef]

I basically have the same story as Ericaboo. Been employed for most of my adult life and always maxing out my days off. I 'crashed' hard about 2 years ago (which is when I finally got the PTSD diagnosis), did about 3-4 weeks of partial inpatient until I could actually show up at work again. . .and continue to work.

I've been at the same place long enough and been successful enough that I've pretty much have designed my current role to minimize triggering symptoms. I have a good gig.

I work because I have a family depending on my income. Deciding to continue working after my crash is the stupidest thing I've ever done. Continuing to work today remains the stupidest thing I've every done. I am stupid for working. . .but I have people relying on me and it would be dumber and worse for me if I let them down.

 

[Hashi]

@TheseDepravedDeeds - I recently had to take almost a year away from work and it was grim. But I'm back at work now and it's going really well. Please have hope.

 

[Changing4Best]

I'm on Social Security Di$ability and have been on benefits since I found out about my abuse and childhood molestation. It was suppressed, then came up in therapy.

 

[Brenton]

Have you worked full time or part time whilst having PTSD or have you been unable to work throughout? Wh...

A mix of no choice, need money, and I use my mental states as creative energy for my career as a novelist. I stopped writing for magazines and started writing fiction that allows me to express my thoughts and feelings through the characters.

I'm on Social Security Di$ability and have been on benefits since I found out about my abuse and chi...

I know how you feel, me too. I have days when I don't want to go to work, don't want to see or talk to anyone, dont want to pretend I'm okay. I almost feel crippled sometimes. I recovered a lot of things in therapy, and its hard to face. So, I empathize with you.

 

[Zanshin]

Full time, between 1-3 jobs at a time (1 full, 2 part time) - work is therapy, keeping busy keeps boredom at bay since boredom is toxic.