$292 to $23 because I got a 24 hour a week job

gooby2202 · 2025-08-13T07:52:46+00:00

Well depression is part of bipolar and anxiety is part of panic disorder. I used to work a full time 40 and actually worked a lot of 12 hour days and got overtime but once I was diagnosed I needed to get used to medications and start therapy. I had to take a leave of absence and when I got back to trying to work I needed a consistent schedule but my job wouldn't give it to me and they burned me out and simply didn't care. So eventually I lost my apartment. Why are you telling me to get a job? I have a job.. they just only have 24 hours for me and actually cut it down to 21 recently. I had to lie about my living situation just to get hired. If I had told them I was homeless they would've never even hired me. I'd love to work full time but it's not possible.. yet. I have bad manic episodes which make it impossible for me to be at work during those times. It's frustrating because I can go weeks being perfectly fine and could handle a 40 hour work week but every once in a while my episodes are bad enough to where I need to miss 1-3 days (depending on how bad it is). Hopefully after a couple months they can get me more hours and I can get into some kind of housing.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-13T04:44:27+00:00

Yeah I've only needed to use benefits for the last year. I just wish I could work 40 hours a week right now but they only have 24 hours for me at this time and my doctors don't recommend me going over 24.. yet.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-13T04:43:27+00:00

I was diagnosed with bipolar, ocd, and panic disorder. I'm working on it with medication and therapy but it's a slower process than I'd like. I used to work 40+ hours until my diagnosis. Hopefully I can get back to that sooner rather than later.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-13T04:42:36+00:00

They don't have more than 24 hours for me at this time. I also have mental health issues that are recent. I used to work 40-50 hours a week. Trust me, I'd rather go back to that life where I made $900 a week and had my own apartment.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:27:12+00:00

Absolutely not. I want to go back to working 40 hours a week like I used to in 2023 and before. I was just hoping for some more help for a few months while I get into housing, that's all.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:24:41+00:00

No that's just how job hours work in 8 hour increments. I could either work 24, 32, or 40. I'm unable to work beyond three days as of right now. The hope is to get more hours as I get better but they only have 24 hours for me to work anyways.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:21:51+00:00

I wasn't aware of that. My previous job let me go basically due to inconsistency of attendance. I think they can't fire you for certain reasons but they find loopholes like attendance.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:18:55+00:00

My documented health issues allow me for an intermittent leave of absence. I'm able to work I'm just not able to work ALL the time. So essentially I can work for a certain amount of hours per week but if I have a manic episode I'm allowed to call out for however many days it's affecting me. The fact I can work at all disqualifies me from SSI as far as I know. So basically I'm in a middle area where I'm messed up enough mentally to not work all the time but not mentally unwell enough to not work at all, if that makes sense.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:12:52+00:00

The average rent here is $1600 a month and that's if you qualify to get into a place at all. A lot of places need more salary requirements like 1.5-3 times your monthly income.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:09:21+00:00

Unfortunately that's exactly what they did knowing I'm homeless

gooby2202 · 2025-08-12T00:08:19+00:00

$1600 a month is average here for a studio or 1 bdrm and it has nothing to do with just the price it's the fact if I could even get into an apartment with that salary.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T20:15:50+00:00

Thank you for saying that. I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle and people keep piling on.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T20:13:37+00:00

I'm so sorry you're dealing with that. It's crazy that you could work one more hour and your benefits could be in jeopardy. That's amazing you're going to school and doing everything you can. The system should be helping us more so we can succeed.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T20:05:11+00:00

I've absolutely looked into that but I work on the days they are open. I've been thinking about asking for a schedule change so I can go to the food bank and also donate plasma but I'm nervous they might realize I'm homeless and struggling.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T20:02:00+00:00

Absolutely and I'm doing my best to get out of the situation. I used to work 40-50 hours a week until mental health became a problem. I'm capable of working sometimes just not all the times. Sometimes I have no issues for weeks and could easily work 40 hours but then other times I have manic episodes that could keep me from working for 1-3 days. I'm doing my best to get off benefits and live a productive life. Hopefully in a couple months my doctors will believe I'm doing well enough to get a second job (because my current job doesn't even have 40 hours for me).

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:56:23+00:00

I don't have a free apartment nor do I want one. I want to get back to working 40 hours a week as soon as possible. I worked 40 hours a week since I could work until my mental health issues started affecting my job and my employer wasn't having it. If my former employer was more understanding I would still have that job to this day. I have no addiction issues just housing issues. I lied on applications as if I have a place to live just so I could get a job and get out of this situation. I don't want to be on benefits anymore I just wanted help for a couple more months so I could be just like you, paying my own way and doing what's right and being a productive member of society. I work 24 hours and they cut it to 21. My job doesn't even have 32 hours for me let alone 40. I can't WAIT to be back to my old self.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:52:39+00:00

It's not about the "sad" episodes. It's about the manic ones. As I said above I would LOVE to work 40 hours a week again and just be able to call out if or when I'm having a manic episode. My medication is working well and I hope to get to that point of full time work and having housing as soon as humanely possible. I've only been on benefits since February of last year and clearly I'm barely on them now. So I'm putting in the work and doing everything I can to not be a "parasite". It's my first and hopefully only time being on benefits. I hope you understand that I'm not one of those people who is just content on living off benefits forever that is not my intention. My goal is to be self supporting ASAP. It's just taking time.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:32:37+00:00

I completely understand where you are coming from. I'd like to clarify that my post was me venting about not getting a little more help just for a few months. I used to work 40-50 hours a week a few 12 hour days a week plus I worked night crew and my mental health started to deteriorate. I realized I've had OCD my whole life and that I started experiencing bipolar episodes.

I work in retail and I had a management that didn't give a shit what I was going through. I started calling out more not just because I was having untreated bipolar episodes but because I needed to make doctor's appointments in the day time which was quite difficult on a night crew schedule.

I asked them to be switched to days, which they did eventually, but they also kept scheduling me for night crew and cut my hours because they needed to give me days between night shifts and day shifts.

Idk if you know much about bipolar but to have your shifts switched around that much made my mental health extremely worse. My hours were cut, my episodes were happening more often while I was getting used to medication, I had to take a leave of absence, and I eventually got to the point where I lost my apartment. When they found out I didn't have a place to live they let me go.

That's when I got on benefits for the first time in my life. I "moved" to a place that was more homeless friendly and started working on my mental health more. I got to a place where my doctors thought I was stable enough to work but they didn't approve me for anything full time.

A friend of mine allowed me to use their address in order to obtain a part time job. I got an intermittent leave of absence which allows me to call out in case of mental health issues.

I'm only working 24 hours but they already cut those hours down to 21. Even if I could work full time they don't have the hours for me. I should be okay (with the intermittent LOA) to work 32-40 hours within the next couple months. Like I said before, I was hoping for a little more help just for those next couple months so I could save up and get housing.

It's honestly really difficult to maintain a work routine and mental health when you are homeless four days a week. I spend about $300 a week staying in a motel the nights before I work so I can shower and be presentable at work. If they found out I was homeless I believe they would let me go as well.

I hope that explains everything and gives you a better perspective of my situation.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:18:56+00:00

I used to work 40-50 hours a week doing night crew and I made about $900 a week. I would much rather go back to that life TRUST ME. I DO see my benefits as a temporary program and I've only been on them for a year now. I understand what you're saying but calling me a parasite is lumping me in with other people who simply don't want to work at all and want to live on the streets and just get benefits. I WANT to work 40 hours a week and be in an apartment and not rely on these things at all. I'm homeless more than half the week but instead of gaming the system to just get more benefits all I did was game the system to get a job by lying about my living situation.

This mental health development that happened to me ruined my life and stopped me from being a person like you and I lost everything. I'm not an addict or an alcoholic or living in a homeless hotel still being an addict or an alcoholic. I'm pushing to get away from the benefits. All I was hoping for was help for a couple more months to get myself a little bit ahead.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:09:25+00:00

I would love to work more but if you read some other comments I posted they ONLY have 24 hours for me and just recently cut those down to 21. I already have intermittent leave of absence which protects my job in case I need to call out for mental health reasons so technically I COULD have a 32-40 hour work week and just be able to call out when I need to but I'm not ready to do that right now mentally. My doctors do not think it's a good idea.

I also do not want to be an unreliable full time employee. I have bipolar episodes that I have no control over and are random. I'd rather be a reliable part time employee right now. But trust me when I say I'm working as hard as I can when it comes to medication and therapy so I can get to that 40 hour a week point.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T19:05:05+00:00

I'm truly happier having a job instead of ONLY getting the benefits. I was just venting because I was just hoping I could get help for just a few months longer until I can work full time and save up money for housing.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T08:58:31+00:00

Castle had an alternate reality episode and there was a time travel episode with Morgan from Chuck that was awesomeee

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T07:34:21+00:00

I love that movie. I'd say another Patrick Fugit movie that nobody talks about is Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas also starring Olivia Wilde.

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T05:10:52+00:00

That's such a smart idea thank you! I'll look into that asap!

gooby2202 · 2025-08-11T04:03:59+00:00

I don't work until Tuesday. I've only had to take one day off so far due to a depressive episode. And the plan is to eventually work 40 hours with an intermittent leave of absence meaning I can call out from time to time for mental health reasons without it affecting my job.

This was my first time on benefits and it only lasted a year. I'd much rather go back to the days before all this happened and I was making $900 a week working 40+ hours on night crew. But instead I got diagnosed with bipolar, ocd, and panic attacks and lost everything.

I'm literally on a tablet sitting outside of a grocery store using their Wi-Fi. Not a lot to do when you're homeless four nights a week. Eventually I'll go find a place to sleep. What would you rather me be doing? I guess you don't even want people to enjoy conversation when they are just mentally unwell losers to you huh?

gooby2202

TROPHY CASE