Feeling lost & afraid

[conscious_mindz]

Hi all i am 31yrs old.. i have 2 friends in the whole world, one of them will be marrying & moving miles away very soon, my other friend is super confident & seems latley to speak down to me through my lack of confidence & self esteem, i dont work because i am signed off on depression & social phobia issues, i cant live on the incapacity money im getting from government its literally crushing me i can afford food but evenings out..days away i simply cannot afford..so i find myself feeling desperate & just very low, i cannot get a girlfriend as i feel my mental problems will be a factor & im also broke! i feel SO alone i lie in bed at night staring at the walls & cry in silence..literally panicking about the future does anyone else ever feel like this ? how can we survive on government disability allowance ? my only option is to get a job but the mear thought makes me feel terrified, any advice, or info on how you deal with similar issues would be much appreciated, it feels the only friends i can trust are the people on here, do many of you work for the money or do u also live on disability & just try to make ends meet ?

 

[Luke1993]

Hello there. Well hopefully you can still keep in contact with your friend that's moving away. I'm not on benefits because I'm in education though once I've done that I dread I'll have to go on benefits but I would really want to find a job I wouldn't mind what it was as long as I could survive on it. What did you work as before?

 

[Feathers]

Hey CM! Welcome to the site!

some people on this site work, some are on disability, some have applied for disability, some are in school or outta job.. very different situations..

it sucks that disability is so little - in our country too: did you check any other options to make money, like stuff you could do at home etc? Scottishpacman also heard of a place where you can get 'job training' maybe something like that exists locally too? Is there any place you could go to for advice on what exists locally? In my country, 'social entrepreneurship' is starting and there will be businesses (some already are) that employ 'disadvantaged' people and give'em jobs - they get government benefits to employ people with health or mental health problems. Check if there's anything locally..

Take care & hope you manage to find something.. oh and there are also options for free fun things out to do - more easily in the summer (open air concerts, parks etc), some in the winter too (gallery openings, poetry readings - many times with food & drinks! haha, etc.) There are even lists of fun things to do for free online..

Have you done CBT for depression yet? There are many good books and sites for sa and depression too..

It sucks if best friends get married or move away or get 'arrogant'-like, you can always meet new ppl tho!! Fingers crossed for ya!!
You can join clubs on anything you're interested in or volunteer etc.

 

[conscious_mindz]

Thanks for the replys i have joined a social anxiety group 1 month ago so i will continue to go to the meetings, also i will contact my GP tomorrow & try book time with a therapist, i am going to take your advice & do the free things i must go jogging 2x a day & release the stress & anxiety inside me, as for a job that is something i really need to face, ideally id like to do some kind of college courses for disadvantaged or suffering mental health problems i just need the courage to face up to these things ;-) thanks for replys & hope 2011 brings us all we hope for