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Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#12

Post by geocrasher »

My friend, I am very sorry. Focus on what you can do right now. The first thing you can do is work hard to find joy in every day of life. Yes, it exists, and yes, you have to look for it. This will help you turn around your depression.

My wife found joy every day even though she was terminally ill, and I'd be remiss not to point you to the same place where she learned to find it:

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/living-with-...

If you want, you can email me to my username@gmail.com and I will send you her Instagram feed which is still online and you will see what she went through and how she stayed positive, peaceful, and even happy despite her awful ordeal.

Lastly, you are more than the sum of your accomplishments. Your material needs are few, and your qualifications many. Get a job doing anything you can do from home, and just start grinding. Don't worry about trying to get back to where you were. Accept your new normal and work it like any other problem.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#13

Post by MauroIksem »

Contact your city sometimes they have programs for people in your situation.. recently at my work we were contacted through one of these programs about a an older dev in a similar situation as yourself. We interviewed them for an internship and if we take them on the city will pay their wage for the length of the internship.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#15

Post by m_a_g »

I mean it must be obvious but the source of your problems seems to be your chronic pain. What is the source of it?

Do you need to go undergo an operation and don't have the resources for it? If not, do medications help? At least to help you get work done?

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#18

Post by whitepoplar »

I'm not sure what the cause of your chronic pain is, but I would highly recommend reading John Sarno's "The Mindbody Prescription." I've dealt with chronic pain for years and it's the only thing that's had any effect. Please, please, don't write it off until you've read the book. Note that Sarno's work focuses on back pain, but it applies to all types of chronic pain (including migraines, which he discusses in the book).

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jQtmSZetJM

- https://aaroniba.net/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain

- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/well/mind/john-sarno-chro...

- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/well/chronic-pain.h...

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#19

Post by abirch »

Madmallard wrote: post #5

Same, disabled. Luckily I paid into insurance and got disability coverage but even still it isn't enough to make ends meet in Los Angeles. I haven't found a solution. It sounds like you're doing better in some regards. I would say do what you can to improve your situation like the claim and what not as early as possible and say fuck you to the negative self talk that might be holding you back from getting help. Talk…

I've heard that SSDI with a lawyer is much more doable than without one.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#20

Post by flatline »

Can you write code? Plenty of places will hire part time, let you work from home, etc. Don’t look for big companies, look for small and mid sized private businesses. As an aside, I think this is an important reason to develop and maintain a social/professional network that you can lean on in times like this. I’m sure I have friends that would give me a chance at work under these circumstances. Maybe you have some of those from years past that you could reach out to? You may be surprised who is willing to help.
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