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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?

#221

I’m sorry to hear about your situation. It may seem hopeless at times but remember working at startups is quite challenging and you did that - and faced challenges lots of people wouldn’t care to try to. Your current assets and your psychology are two different things. Every improvement you can wring out with the latter, could be the piece of strength you need to deal with the other. Seek out any way you can to build…

Wow downvoted for trying to be encouraging? Guess I need to practice that more, I honestly intended the words compassionately.

No post body was provided.

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

#222
There's not a lot more exhausting than chronic pain. I spend 6 months of the year not working because I need time for other parts of my life, otherwise all I do is work and rest. But after many years, I've found a good balance.

The best thing I found..

- Find out how much you can work. If it's even just 1 hour a day, you can still make a living.

- Make a list of people you don't want to lose contact with, you need to plan your visits and reaching out. Otherwise you'll end up alone, on your own. That makes everything harder.

- Find a job or business that can support async work. There's a lot more options these days than there were even 2 years ago. Startups, dodgy greyhat tech businesses, your own SaaS are all options. Find or create a niche. This is the hard one, but there's opportunity out there - you just need to find it. Blog posts on LinkedIn, Medium articles, get your name out there - this is a good start. Write about what you know, then write about what you're interested in. You're already on the front page of HN, so you're past the majority of people.

Right now you're out of money though so what you need right now is..

- To be able eat, keep shelter, and a source to support those things - in your case - internet and power.

Figure out those first. Because without them, you're screwed. Thankfully you're probably eligible for credit cards and all sorts of bad debt, obviously find the "best of the worst" option and go with that if you can't sell anything or loan from family.

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

#223
post #215

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 b…

Personally I think Sarno is BS. He's telling people what they want to hear and covering up for the failures of of our medical system. He basically says that your pain is coming from stress from psychological issues and what you need to do is therapy and Journaling. I believed this nonsense in regards to my own back pain for a long time. Ironically my pain of 5 years started to subside as I gave up these beliefs altho…

I don't think your story should lead you to conclude that his theories are BS. Like clearly a lot of pain has a physical basis. Sarno's argument was that there is a fair amount of pain that does not have a physical basis, and that once structural causes are eliminated one should consider emotional/mental sources for the pain. The fact that you had pain with a structural basis doesn't really suggest that any of that is untrue.

I'm pretty skeptical of what he says, but there is definitely enough smoke that a fire is possible.

No horse in this race, by the way. I've never had chronic pain, I just think the topic is interesting.

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

#224
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit it sounds crazy, but it works. I was extremely skeptical too.

It really doesn't work for everyone. OP needs to see a doctor first instead of trying to use a placebo.

I'm incredibly confident that OP has already seen a doctor.

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

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, FYI, I initially flagged your post because I thought it was spam... thought JW had moved into the online version of door-to-door Watchtowering with drive-by evangelism. But I was wrong, and I'm sorry. You're just a regular part of this community and your wife happens to have religious beliefs that helped her through tough times. I apologize for jumping to conclusions, and I'm posting this response mostly so othe…

Jehova's Witnesses aren't a legitimate religion. They're a cult, and the parent comment to you is engaged in predatory behavior exactly of the sort any cult is known for.

You know, I get where you're coming from. One of my good friends was a disfellowed JW -- which is kinda like excommunication, except they're not just cut off from their church, but their community and family and friends too, altogether. This person had horror story upon horror story to tell about JWs. I certainly would never choose that path for myself.

However, I don't think I should be the one deciding what the OP is interested in or not. If they want a religious discussion they are free to follow up, or else they can ignore it. I just didn't want to erroneously mark it as spam.

Really though, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? The amount of real estate they own? Every mainstream religion presumably started from a small cult at some point. Yeah, there are some questionable JW practices and adherents who do shitty things, but you could say that about any religion, or really any group of people. As an agnostic outsider who never believed in any religion, they all seem kooky and silly to me, but I also recognize that they fulfill deeply-rooted human needs for belonging and meaning.

The OP is already in a rough place, between the chronic pain and the depression. It's not up to me censor their options. If they can find some respite and peace, be it in a religion or in mindfulness or in nature or in community or in harmless drugs, you know... good on 'em. As long as they're not hurting themselves or others in the process, not my place to judge how they find solace.

Our society is so obsessed with materialism and the worship of greed that sometimes even just asking people to consider other spheres of being -- spirituality, community, personal meaning, whatever -- might open up avenues they wouldn't even have considered otherwise. IMO, when you're truly desperate, no option should be off the table.

But of course others are free to disagree, and I'm also glad the OP is getting informed about the downsides of JW so they can make a balanced opinion of their own.

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

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no opinion on the book or author in question, but I’m not clear on why you are so dismissive. The ability for psychological expectations to cause physical pain and even physical symptoms (like those of an allergic reaction) is relatively well established science.

He stated exactly why he was dismissive. You merely reassert the author main point, but fail to address the counter arguments he gave.

Calling a single sceptical statement "counter arguments" is disingenuous at best. The linked bidmc article is a good starting point if you really are interested.

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

#227

I went through a very similar thing with ME/CFS and hEDS (which has a chronic pain component). Before I even knew what was I knew that I was on the decline. I was doing ok at work but my ability to maintain a working pace kept diminishing. I went from full time to part time to less than part time to the occasional contracting. I ended up having to do a bit of a Hail Mary to try to save myself. I took a bunch of stimu…

Your story is very familiar to me....I worked for years in a failing body, trying to make enough money to survive. It sounds like you've found treatments that help you, but if not the Center for Complex Diseases is great with both ME/CFS and hEDS. If you have spine issues due to hEDS there are some PT's in the Bay Area that specialize in craniocervical instability and related issues. Just FYI.

I gave up on doctors a long long time ago. I found that I was far better at diagnosing and treating myself than any doctor I've ever met and I've met a lot of them. I get the meds I need on the black/gray market. I can get research peptides that are not FDA approved and they've been great. It is way more effective than anything a PT or even a doctor could do. I also do weightlifting and take special care of my hormones and diet. The ME/CFS is fine these days as well, I had a relapse with the vaccine booster but was able to medicate myself out of it.

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

#228
I will give non-standard advice.

I would argue against all the people saying you should read John Sarno or other mind-body connection books. Been there, done that, did not help with tendonitis. There are alternatives thesis that explain why those books help certain people and how the advice did not in fact help them. A good exposition can be found here:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BgBJqPv5ogsX4fLka/the-mind-b...

Now on your problem. If it is related to chronically pain, you could try to come to Chile and get physical therapy for cheap. The medical system on the US cannot afford to pay for physical therapy, but can afford the pill subscription. There are friends in the US that have used pills for month for what known physical therapy exists, it is sad.

Locals tend to use FONASA, which is like the NHS for the UK. Paying from your own pocket (private) it is not cheap for locals, but for north-americans I argue it is. I would say

- 40 USD for the private medical session of diagnosis.

- 140 USD for 2 months of physical sessions (3 times a week).

You can heal a lot of stuff with those cost.

Plus the attention has a good cost / benefit ratio. Sure it is no mayo clinic, but you get cured in the end. The physical therapist (kinesiologo) I ended up attending was a college professor on the side. This was in Quilpue, not santiago! Plus he had great attention too!

I had RSI. The physical therapist uncompressed the muscles with needles and low voltage electricity. That made my brain realize "oh, those muscles _are_ overloaded" and uncompressed them; it is no acupuncture mumbo-jumbo. Then gave me a routine of exercise to develop the other half of the muscles that were overworked, so they got aligned. Afterwards on the third week I was back at work. I have to do complementary exercises every three days as a precaution (stretching, weights etc), but certainly this is sustainable. I had to do that anyways after 30.

I can see myself working for a long time. I don't feel afraid of hacking on OSS at night ;-)

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

#229

When it comes to SDDI, don't do it alone, hire a firm that specializes in disability claims. Expect to be denied at first and to need to appeal.

While it doesn't seem like it's a problem for you right now, money-wise, for those who can't afford to hire a firm, there are lawyers that will work on contingency and will take payment from a cut of your disability benefits.

Depending on where you are, areas with good social services tend to also have social/case workers who can help with disability claims, as well.

Felt like I should mention this in case someone is reading this thread who is in the same boat as the OP.

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

#230
Do Uber, or Uber eats if you don’t want to deal with people too much. It will make you more than enough to sustain yourself with your experience.

Put yourself on upwork (I assume you know programming).

If not, take up an administrative job, remote if you can find it in HR or recruiting or something similar.

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