My partner (NB 27) recently moved to a different area in the same city. They do not drive, and their commute is 1.5-2 hours each way by bus now, even though a drive would be 20 min. They do plan to get their license, but even if they had it they can't really afford a car right now.
They have been looking for a new job for months now, since the commute sucks, but their full time job and commute on top of their disabilities (bipolar disorder, celiac disease) and major depression have made that search quite difficult. To give you a sense of how bad their mental health gets, it's important to know that they missed 1.5 months of their job last fall (unpaid), because they were voluntarily hospitalized twice for being suicidal.
They aren't applying to as many jobs as they should because they are exhausted and depressed all of the time. And they aren't hearing back from most jobs they do apply to. It doesn't help that their options are limited to jobs with less than an hour commute by bus.
All of the stress is making their GI issues and depression worse, which means they are missing work a lot. Their boss keeps telling them that if they can't handle the job they should put in their two week notice. Partner cannot afford to do so unless they have another job lined up or they can get unemployment benefits. Even if they get unemployment benefits, it's very risky for them to not have a job lined up, since they rely so heavily on their job's health insurance for their many mental health medications and therapy.
Washington state unemployment says you can qualify for benefits if the main reason for quitting is because of a disability or illness, and you have made attempts to get accommodations. I looked at the specific criteria for this qualification, and there is a lot to it and I have a feeling they would be denied if they tried to get benefits for this reason.
I feel like their best option is to refuse to quit and wait until they get fired. If they are on unemployment, they can put the energy that work has been sucking out of them toward finding a new job. Hopefully they could get a few months supply of their meds for the unemployment period and insurance waiting period that many jobs have.
It feels really hopeless for them right now, and I cannot afford to support them if they are unemployed. They have considered applying for disability benefits, but they know that it can take years and many applications to get approved.
Are there other options we aren't thinking about? Any advice would be appreciated.