Public Comment

It does wonders for my self-esteem when I work alongside typical people with no disabilities in a job that is not subsidized by a special program, and when I do not disclose a disability. In my writing endeavors I do this today, and in my past, I've done it in entry level and skilled jobs. When I was successful in pizza delivery and television repair in the nineteen eighties, it made me feel 'normal' and to this day I believe there is no substitute for it. 

A psychiatric disorder does not have to mean you can't work competitively, especially in areas that you find interesting and to which you are attracted. There is nothing written in stone and handed down to Moses that says disabled people can't work as would a 'normal' person. To try this, self-confidence is required. But you must also have the unwillingness to give up. 

If you are young and have a psychiatric disorder, but if you want to buck the role of being a "disabled person" working as though non-disabled is your path. However, from where I stand, I adjust in my work for my unique attributes. Some are drawbacks and some are strengths. I adjust how I work accordingly. The disability does, in fact, enter the picture. Yet, the fact of doing something normal people do, with appropriate adjustments, cannot be beat. 

Adjusting could consist of self-coaching. It could consist of spending an hour before work doing meditation intended to eliminate anxiety pertaining to going to work. Packing a lunch is always a good idea so that you aren’t adding additional stress of buying from a food truck. If you smoke, you likely won't have a chance to light up at work; wear a patch. The work activity itself can also be adjusted and I can't give specifics about this, because every job is different. 

I'd also like to add here that due to sum of physical and mental problems I have, I can handle no more than fifteen hours per week. If I remain within that, I can usually do well. When I become too ambitious and want more, I have sabotaged myself in the job. 

Although in many areas, mental health professionals don't necessarily know what they're talking about (e.g., the prognosis I was given) they are on target when it comes to the need to treat a psychiatric problem with medication and therapy. It can be difficult to work while taking antipsychotics, but it is the only route available that will work in the long run. You could think you're cured because you've held a job for five months, but any noncompliance with medication will come back to bite you in the butt. 

When I was in my twenties, a mental health organization that I was trying out for employment assistance had placed me as bus person at a Denny's restaurant. To this day, the humiliation I felt is memorable. I was at work, in the Denny's uniform, while the restaurant manager hobnobbed with the placement specialist, both of whom were looking in my direction. If you don't quite get how this was humiliating, you had to be there. It made the experience not worth it, and it taught me a lesson about what I wasn't going to do anymore. I respect myself too much. 

I'm currently at the infancy of a job in which I'm supplying content to a manuscript broker. I am making headway in the job. I briefly at the same time had another job in which I was supplying written content (fictional) to an adult website. They went defunct suddenly and without any advance warning. That particular job was set up to be very convenient and I wish they had remained in business. 

I also sell books I've written on Amazon. This doesn't usually pay much, not much at all. But a few dollars here and there over a long period of time doesn't hurt. The industry of writing rarely pays in comparison to the level of work you're doing. 

When I placed five Op-Eds over a period of a year, into a large newspaper in the Bay Area, there was no direct pay, but it was very clearly a victory. It paid indirectly because it boosted book sales. 

Success is how you define it. If you define success only by a dollar amount, you could be in for disappointment. If you view success in terms of having created something that did not beforehand exist, and if you've made something that's really good, it is worth it for you to be proud. When you take pride in what you do, it is a plus for your existence. If you can be paid for it, it is even better. But being paid may involve factors that you don't control. 

The private sector has a lot of things that are good. And not all of it is owned by Republicans and/or Trump people. Many people in the private sector are progressives. You can get all kinds. 

In a job that doesn't require education, training or skill, the pay is going to be bottom of the barrel and so will the work conditions. In some cases, you can luck out, and escape this. You might get minimum wage but maybe the work conditions won't be dismal. On the other hand, in a repair job, you are expected to produce repaired units, one after another. It is a "production"-type job. If you can't keep pace, you won't last. Yet, repair jobs are considered respectable. They require brains. The pay is decent. But the work can be very demanding. In my twenties, I succeeded in a few of them. The fact that I contracted mononucleosis in my twenties, worked against me, and that was a factor in losing two good jobs I'd gotten. 

If you are mentally ill, you don't have to resign yourself to doing brainless work, despite what mental health professionals may have prognosticated. Often the problem is the mental health professionals. And that's why it may be practicable to seek work in the private sector and not reveal that you are considered disabled--if it is something you are able to do. Like I say, in my twenties I could do this. But also, it was harder for employers to get information about people, and they didn't have a way of knowing much more about me than what I presented to them. 

If you don't feel quite prepared to do what I've outlined above, take heart. Many people need help along the way, and there is no shame in that. If you are just not interested in working, it is okay because you probably have a legitimate disability. 

Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez, California.  

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