I dont really want a job

[waine]

I dont really want a job it would just stress me and send me backwards

[waine]

I saw the perfect tshirt I need
please dont make me do stuff

[greenman]

No me neither, can you tell me where you saw the Tshirt. I have to play this i want a job routine everytime i go to the job centre. Tbh i have never been so sceptical about the world of work until now. Work works for some but not for me at this moment in time im happy to drift.

[BritishPeace]

It would be cool to go to the job centre wth a tshirt saying 'I don't want a job, I'm here for the free money'

[greenman]

'

It would be cool to go to the job centre wth a tshirt saying 'I don't want a job, I'm here for the free money

No such thing as free money, but i have contributed by paying my taxes in the past. I am looking for work despite being on ESA and classed not fit for work by my GP but the DWP think I can. Ironic or what?

[greenman]

Originally Posted by Luna.

Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to say we don't want a job because its too stressful or has a negative impact on our mental health.
When you have responsibilities and bills to pay you don't have a choice. My job is making me ill at the moment, but I get up every morning and go to work because I have to, what I want is irrelevant.

Yes you make a good and relevant point and my heart goes out to you having myself been in a similar positions for years. But you know what I am lucky that i can manage on benefits but i have worked so many years in good health and bad, bought my own home as well. So I dont feel in the least bit guilty now that i can just about manage on benefits, by topping up my income doing odd jobs or when I sell on ebay, or help a friend to run a business. Though i dont work now doesnt mean Im lazy or dont work when i am able, im just operating as effectively as i can, with minimum impact on my health, but i still have responsibilities bills etc and a car to run. Im not blessed with free money or a healthy bank balance.

[waine]

I don't think about money or work
can't look after self

[kalyfician]

I would love a job which doesn't involve working with people or talking to people face to face or on the phone. Sadly those jobs are very limited and when you have mental illness the chances of getting anything is minute.

[northeastsouthwest]

Originally Posted by Luna.

Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to say we don't want a job because its too stressful or has a negative impact on our mental health.
When you have responsibilities and bills to pay you don't have a choice. My job is making me ill at the moment, but I get up every morning and go to work because I have to, what I want is irrelevant.

Amen.

[Focused]

I do. I want something to keep me occupied, it can get extremely boring not having much to do with yourself week after, of course I would like to do something I enjoy, a job I don't enjoy, I don't think would be worth doing. Also with a steady job I can finally get my out of my parents house!

[Belinda]

Originally Posted by waine

I saw the perfect tshirt I need
please dont make me do stuff

Can I have one too?

[sillypenguin]

I can only get jobs that involve being on the phone all time or financial services sector (which I just don't 'get' tbh and therefore can't do job properly) I just end up getting stressed and/or depressed and leaving anyways so I'm starting to think what's the point in doing another job like that just to leave or it's temp so have to leave at the end of contract anyways. Just going nowhere!! :/

[Princess39]

I'm back at work after being off "sick" for a long while.Am so glad to just be out and about and having a reason to get up everyday again.Being off work was also stressing me out more because of having to watch the pennies and having too much time to think.
I went through that stage of not wanting to work before because I knew I was'nt fit enough mentally to deal with it but have got past that stage and now want to be back to being a person with a purpose in life and do the things I want/need to do.

[Sphinx]

I would love a job, but I'm absolutely terrified to actually do anything, cause I think I'm incompetent and my anxiety will ruin it for me as usual

[misska]

i want a job but one that suits me am sick of getting a job then messing it up once people find out im not just quiet cos im new, im always like that

[andrex]

'I don't really want a job'. Sorry to sound brutal here, JK-esque I guess. But who do you think/should pay for you? I didn't have a choice but to work, like the majority of the population. It's OK to take time out if stress has taken over, but you have to go back at some point unless you want the rest of us to pay your bills.

The thing is after a while, SA isn't the most dominating problem, most of the time it is the sheer stress of the job and keeping oneself afloat like the rest of the population.

I, and I'm sure many others just kept going back to work and it is forced EXPOSURE that makes you carry on.

I have seen the program on fat people who don't want to work. This is no better. SA is something one can get over/live with if you try/have to.

And I'm left wing but this annoys me.

^ You're quiet. SO WHAT? It's not a crime as long as you can do your job, you and others are so egocentric that you think people care, even if they may comment. People should just get over themselves.

[andrex]

As I said it is totally OK to take time out if one is stressed (by SA). I am only referring to SA as this is an SA board; but yes if one has multiple mental health problems, I have no issue with the inability not to work at all.

I guess I just see some people saying: 'oh people think I am quiet etc at work'.

I've had all of that. I had a stage when all my colleagues refused to talk to me; apparently this is because of the way I look and it had happened to another girl according to some kind guy who got me another job in the same field as he saw I was being bullied. Even if he hadn't I would have stayed as new people came along and I made friends with them.

Just an example I'm not perfect, far from it.

[Dougella]

Originally Posted by Luna.

Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to say we don't want a job because its too stressful or has a negative impact on our mental health.
When you have responsibilities and bills to pay you don't have a choice. My job is making me ill at the moment, but I get up every morning and go to work because I have to, what I want is irrelevant.

I think this is a little bit simplistic. I have known a couple of people who have tried to carry on with work like you say and have ended up having complete nervous breakdowns.

For some people mental health conditions can be so severe that they are unable to work, atleast for a certain time. It's different in every case, as it will be for people here.

[Dougella]

^^Sorry, yes I just realised your post was in response to people saying they don't want to work, rather then they're not able to.
My own sensitivity around the subject came out a bit there and I posted without reading through properly.

[Sunshine Recorder]

I don't really want to work, either. At least not where I am now. I really want a change, but I feel my limited experience will limit what I can do. If I lost my job tomorrow, I'd feel guilty claiming benefits, because I'm more than capable of working.

[Spectrelight]

To those who don't want to work - what do you want to do with your life? As much as I have days where I really don't want to go to work I'd be bored out of my mind if I had 50-60 hours more time to fill in a normal week. Also, where would you get your money from? Benefits pay bugger all and there's no way you'll be able to live independently on them in the long run. Personally I'd feel ashamed if I ever had to claim them.

This post isn't aimed at people who are too ill to work btw, just those who could but don't want to

[misska]

Originally Posted by andrex

'I don't really want a job'. Sorry to sound brutal here, JK-esque I guess. But who do you think/should pay for you? I didn't have a choice but to work, like the majority of the population. It's OK to take time out if stress has taken over, but you have to go back at some point unless you want the rest of us to pay your bills.

The thing is after a while, SA isn't the most dominating problem, most of the time it is the sheer stress of the job and keeping oneself afloat like the rest of the population.

I, and I'm sure many others just kept going back to work and it is forced EXPOSURE that makes you carry on.

I have seen the program on fat people who don't want to work. This is no better. SA is something one can get over/live with if you try/have to.

And I'm left wing but this annoys me.

^ You're quiet. SO WHAT? It's not a crime as long as you can do your job, you and others are so egocentric that you think people care, even if they may comment. People should just get over themselves.

Not just about being quiet If you asked everyone they would have different experinces at work your's might be better than mine. I think you think because you can deal with work ok everyone else should when you dont know the reasons they find it hard

[andrex]

Originally Posted by misska

Not just about being quiet If you asked everyone they would have different experinces at work your's might be better than mine. I think you think because you can deal with work ok everyone else should when you dont know the reasons they find it hard

Agreed; we all have different experiences at work which make us unable to carry on. This is why I said it is OK to take time off work for SA reasons. I have been in hospital a few times because of it, because I carry on and on until I have a physical health problem - just because I want to get away from the mental health tag as I find it hinders me in work. I have NOT been able to deal with work all the time and I don't think everyone else should. The title of the thread was about not wanting to work. I would love to work part time, but I don't have a choice. My family would not support me; I would be on the streets.

Originally Posted by Distance

I understand your position and get that you feel in some cases going into work is logical and can be beneficial to the wellbeing of some people (I agree it can be, I'd probably be a wreck without the structure and personal contact of work in my life right now), but I think we probably disagree fundamentally about what range of "issues" social anxiety can encompass (unless I've taken your comment around having multiple mental health issues too literally?).

You state that if someone has multiple mental health issues it's not an issue for you if they don't work. Personally I believe SA alone can be a genuine reason for not being able to work. It often goes hand in hand with depression, but in those cases the two are inextricably linked, and you'd never attempt to treat one in isolation from the other. I don't see being unable to work through SA as having a requirement to demonstrate secondary stress or other separate health conditions. It can be utterly debilitating in your day-to-day life. In the same way that, eg, schizophrenia, can prevent you can from working, SA can too. It's a recognised mental health condition, and is distinct from being shy, introverted or quiet. (I know that it may sound obvious here, but outside of these forums people often struggle with the concept, so in terms of what people have to deal with it's worth being clear: ) "I am socially anxious" can mean "I am scared to leave the house in case I see another human being; if this happens I will have a panic attack". If someone has social anxiety to this degree, not wanting to work is a perfectly rational response, and sending them to the jobcentre would be counterproductive.

The goal for everyone with any mental health issue will be to feel better and not suffer (or not suffer as much) from that condition any more. But in most cases finding work is not the first step. For someone with social anxiety the first step is to feel a bit more comfortable being around people, not to look to get into a job. If someone is at rock bottom and struggling just to carry on due to SA, again, I believe that it's right that public money should pay for them to carry on surviving. I'm probably personalising this too much; the benefit system was scary for me when I was claiming 10 years ago. I could not have coped with the jobcentre back then. I'm aware that since then the system has changed: If you do have health issues (mental or physical) you are more likely to end up on JSA than I was. I think it would be a horrific situation to get to where if someone has SA the automatic position of the state is to make them apply for jobs and attend job interviews.

Yes I said above, I know SA can be so bad that one cannot leave the house. Of course one cannot work then and benefits should be provided. However, I think people can 'get over' this extreme form of SA, maybe they will relapse, but there are countless people on here who have been to meets, who work, who shop, who socialise, maybe not all the time, but they can do it. Other illnesses such as paranoid schizophrenia can see people in and out of mental health institutions and they will never be able to get over it. OK some people may never be able to get over SA, but I would guess the stats of a recovery of sorts would be better for SA than other mental health problems such as personality disorders or as I said paranoid schizophrenics (I know two) and the severity of their symptoms means they could never work.

[Mr. Nobody]

I hate work,. always have.
I hated school too,. probably more than I hate work,
I just feel a deep need to be left alone, given space,..like I'm stressed out by life as I perceive it.
but, being given support in the sense of having time, space, to unwind and feel unpressured is too much of a luxury for us poor folks,.
society will not leave anyone alone, will not let anyone miss out on the fun of being a wage-slave and being ground down in a de-spiriting, meaningless, stressful job for 50 or 60-odd years,
the government metaphorically stands before you as a youth and says "none shall pass, without being ground down and worn-out as a human being"

- what I noticed when I was so messed up with SA that I couldn't find a job for about a year or so, was that I was slowly coming round to finding my niche, finding my own creative means to earn a living,.
I think it takes time to allow the stress within us to unravel and leave you free to start being creative, to start facing life on your own terms and not being forced into being a wage-slave.
I was feeling like I could have been a garden designer,. Or something creative along those lines.
trouble is, as I said, you're not left alone for long enough to really come up with something inventive or creative as a way to earn a living on your own terms.
for my point, I got pushed into a series of dead-end low-paying meaningless jobs, but I guess my SA, low self-esteem, low confidence and depression played their part in that.

~ my feeling is no one really wants a job, SA or not,.
but it's really up to us as individuals to make a change and come up with alternate, more holistic, creative, and stress-free ways to earn a living.
I feel it's possibly not beyond the wit of man and woman to do so.

- maybe apathy plays it's part too ?
once you are earning a wage, there's often less incentive to make changes and do something totally different

- meh,..

[sillypenguin]

Does anyone work on a part time basis? I cannot find any full time work I think I could handle atm but least part time is a wage and won't be as stressed with the reduced hours. The interview I got at end of this week states they have a min of 18hrs a week so I guess there's the potential to do more if necessary. Just wondering if those with SA, GAD, depression, etc feel working less hours?

I don't care if I'm not rich, I'm never gonna be rich and I can't get a house so what's the point in trying to get more money but can't achieve my goals and just get all stressed out because I 'need' to be working full time :/

[JulesH]

I would love a job, but find the applying process the most difficult part. Then you possibly have ridiculous stuff like group interviews to contend with... It grinds me down before I've even started.

[sillypenguin]

Yes same; having to sit there and interact as if your the most confident extrovert on the planet while inside your dying haha. My interview tomorrow as a role play and competency questions (I. e the worst type of questions in the history of the universe and the reason I usually fail interviews) but I'd still like this job way more than the job they tried to offer me previously, outbound calling. Hell no!!!

[Finlay]

I don't actually mind working as such, but what makes me dread going in is the fact I know I'm going to have to spend 8+ hours of the day putting the face on (as in faking being more talkative and chatty than I actually am - not continuously putting make-up for 8 hours ) for colleagues and customers. For some reason it just drains the life out of me. Trouble is I keep finding myself drifting in Call Centre work, which is pretty much the most talkative kind of job you can get. If I could just have a job where I work alone, with minimal contact with people, then I think I'd find it all easier. It's not that I dislike people or anything, but it's just that I find constantly talking all day really, really exhausting, so by the time I get home I feel too tuckered out to do anything, and I just waste my time vegetating and recharging.

Having said that, I've had a couple of periods of unemployment and, to be honest, I quite enjoyed them. If it wasn't for the fact it's financially impossible to do long-term, I could quite happily be unemployed and left to my own devices. I quite like the freedom to just potter about, going to the gym, reading stuff, tinkering with small projects, driving about etc. Unfortunately, even though I have very cheap tastes, I still need money so in the end I have to work.