As a 25 year old American, currently fighting for their disability case, this subreddit has made me feel like I will never do more than live with my parents and barely afford to help out with minor expenses, and I'm terrified.
Currently I do shitty contractual work online, so I have no benefits. I'm limited to a maximum of 10 hours per week, and I make $9/hr (of active work, when there's work available, which there's no guarantee there will even be 10 hours per week). Well, that's my 'main' contract job, I do other things as I can qualify for. My disabilities (I don't want to dive too deep into them, or this will turn into a full blown book instead of a light novel) make it IMPOSSIBLE for me to maintain a 'normal' schedule. Not just '9-5' 'normal' but I cannot reliably have a schedule. It is impossible. I cannot maintain 'wake up x o'clock, go to bed x o'clock.'
Some days I will be unable to get out of bed or in excruciating pain/discomfort for 16+ hours. There are times I cannot sleep for 4-6 days. I had to leave my previous job out of fear for my life, I would fall asleep at the wheel daily, and I worked somewhere that required a lot of driving. Sometimes I would suddenly realize I couldn't remember the past 10-15 minutes. All my past employers have played it off as me being a lazy kid who stays up too late and has no sense of responsibility.
Finding what little work I'm doing now has been hard. I want a job, I'm passionate about a lot of things, and I want to earn money and be able to be independent, but God it's been so fucking hard. Seeing the trouble that many of you face leaves me hopeless. Is it possible for me to find a job being treated as a human, with my limitations? Will I ever have benefits? Will I ever live without the dread of what might happen if I can no longer rely on my family? Will I ever have savings? I wasn't even able to qualify for anything more than the first COVID relief check due to my circumstances.
Seriously, there are so many of you out there that are way stronger than me and I have so much admiration for you, you're all fighters with an iron will.