I've been on SSDI since 2017. Recently I attempted to return to work and after about a month my symptoms started getting worse and I asked for either some time off or to reduce to part-time hours so I could deal with the situation. I was fired on the spot. Boss tried to offer to bring me back on at a lower wage and a demotion. I told him none of this is legal and I wasn't interested in his offers.
I'm not sure if I ever want to return to work. I find the way disabled people are treated in this country despicable. Even at $20/hr (my old salary), I have a hard time affording all of the public benefits I'm losing by returning to work, and these jobs require you to do highly monotonous work where you're not really learning anything while inflation destroys our buying power.
What do you do with your life post-work? I'm thinking I'd like to get into some type of non-profit volunteer “work” or activism. I at least need to keep something on my resume in case I ever lose my SSDI. I still have about 22 years until I can legally retire.