Has anyone written about or started a topic on here about the journey going from full time employment to being on disability (long term) while dealing with an insurer? That sudden shift from day to day life with employment to being, potentially, utterly alone and in isolation must be rough for some and very very few people have this experience of being able to handle this transition. Has this topic been explored?
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What you mean that feeling when you hop out of bed feeling like you can rule the world but by the time you drink your coffee and walk to the mailbox outside your front door youâre in tears because you can barely manage to get your shoes off and crawl back into bed? Or how you donât quite know how to answer the inevitable North American âwhat do you doâ when you meet someone new because youâre technically still employed in your old job but not doing it and being up front about your health problems is a total conversation killer? Or the shock on your friendsâ faces when you explain youâre trapped because even if you could volunteer a little you still canât because your insurance policy prohibits it and if you were able to work part time a little which you physically canât, you still couldnât because youâd have to pay everything you made to the insurance company and pay taxes on the money your LTD insurer got and also lose several thousand dollars in medical care because your employer covers you on LTD but youâd have to quit to work part-time for someone else? Or seeing your colleagues advance into your job and get promoted to the career you wanted to have while youâre stuck taking every kind of rehabilitation program you can find in the desperate hope of getting back to work? Or trying to figure out at what point you can give up some of your work clothes and tools and professional licences instead of paying for something you canât use? All while being terrified that your claims manager or your doctorâs reporting delays or your employer carrying your medical will screw you over and youâll end up on the street or without your lifesaving medications.
No I canât recall seeing anyone talking about all of that before.
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Well said @Caro
Such a difficult transition, especially when employer obstructed accommodations process that could have meant maintenance of gainful employment. IMO, insurance COâs need to do more to assist in that dynamic.
Thank you for raising the topic @anonymous1
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I spend a lot of time in bed and my mind often wanders and lately despite everything thatâs been happening I feel a sense of guilt. As difficult as life has been sometimes I find myself staring at Google maps at rush hour.
I see all of those people stuck in traffic. Sure these people wake up and live life normally but when I think about this I still feel a strong sense of guilt. These people are trapped in their own lives going about life as normal while Iâm trapped in bed getting paid and doing nothing.
I guess both parties are trapped in their own ways but I canât explain why I feel guilty despite my medical condition and poor prognosis.
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Tbh, the first few years were so so so hard. I had so much guilt. I missed my coworkers.
Then I was slapped in the face by more medical stuff and that changed things for me. They were moving on. I could too
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The transition is hard. I struggled immensely going from an extremely intense, high responsibility corporate role to being at home without structure.
Early on, my therapist told me, âFind absolutely anything that lets you check off an accomplishment box in your mind. Even a small win that gives you a bit of dopamine a couple of times a day can be the difference between depression and feeling content.â
Because of my injuries, I had to start small. At first it was simply making the bed each morning. Then it became doing one load of laundry every day, no matter how small. Then taking the dog for a walk each day, even if it was brief. Within a week, my mental state improved dramatically. A year later I was almost my old self again, mentally.
For me, it is not about chasing joy. It is about finding activities that create a sense of completion and purpose. Playing with my young children brings immense joy, but that feeling is fleeting. In contrast, spending about twenty minutes spread over each weekday managing a couple stock trades in my TFSA on my phone (that allows me to cover our household expenses) gives me a deep sense of purpose and accomplishment, and it has drastically improved my mental health.
The transition is hard, there is no preventing that, but if one can find a simple activity they can accomplish each day that provides some challenge and aligns with their values and aptitudes, I believe life becomes much better and relatively quickly.
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Hmm I wish I had had that advice, I can see how it would help
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That was intense for me. I was high functioning management superstar.. Then suddenly I was at home without work to hide in. It was very hard for a few years.
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Fellow workaholic represents!
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My employer also obstructed the accomodation / work hardening my family Dr recommend and the begining. The kept demanding very detailed information in the âCognitive Abilities Sectionâ on the FAF document they insisted be completed. My Dr completed the entire document with meâŚand they refused it demanding more details under that one section. My STD ended and my Case Manager send the paperwork for LTD, which I was approved for recently, in early February. Now this crazy update call from my Case Manager today.
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