Throughout my working life, becoming unemployed had always been one of my biggest fears, and one that fear turned into reality when I was forced to give work up due to ill health.<\/p>\n
When it happened, it couldn\u2019t have been at a worse time. With declining health and mobility, and my doctor saying a firm \u201cNo\u201d to going out to work, getting another job seemed impossible.<\/strong> All I could see was a lifetime ahead of me of claiming benefits, and I didn\u2019t even dare think about the future.<\/p>\n My situation wasn\u2019t helped by the fact that I was depressed. I had been for a long time and while I had a job to occupy my time, I could bury myself in it. However, when I gave up work, I had to live with; I couldn\u2019t hide from it anymore, and the more pronounced it became. The more depressed I felt, the bleaker my future seemed, and the more I struggled to see a way forward.<\/p>\n Then one day I was listening to the radio. There was an interview with a lady talking about her own battle with depression.<\/strong> She described everything I was feeling and how managing her depression had helped her turned the rest of her life around. Her story resonated with me so much, and I knew that if I was going to forge a new life \u2013 and career for myself \u2013 I was going to have to deal with the depression.<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not great at opening up, but once I found the right doctor<\/strong> \u2013 one I knew I could talk to and one I knew who would listen\u00ad\u2013 I made an appointment with him. I went along, clutching a piece a paper, where I\u2019d written all the things I\u2019d didn\u2019t dare to say out loud. I still think admitting I was depressed is the bravest thing I have ever done<\/strong>. My only regret was I hadn\u2019t done it sooner, because it changed everything.<\/p>\n My doctor told me he\u2019d do everything he could to help me get back on track, but first I had to do something to help him. He wanted me to get started on antidepressants as a temporary measure. Then we could start moving on to counseling if necessary, and seeing how else he could help me.<\/p>\n It took some months, but gradually my mood started to lift<\/strong>. With the depression better controlled, I was less worried about money, I was less negative overall, and I was more focused on what I could do with my future, rather than what I couldn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n The most obvious career seemed writing. I’d done it on an occasional basis and I\u2019d always made some money out of it, so why not do it for a living? It had been my long term ambition after all, and now here was the opportunity to do what I wanted and follow my passion.<\/p>\n However, I had to overcome plenty of barriers first. I have difficulties using my hands, so my GP referred me to an occupational therapist to help me modify my work space<\/strong>, and to a neurologist, who helped me with medications to try and better control my condition.<\/p>\n With those barriers addressed to some degree, I was ready to start out as a writer. I signed up for some freelance sites, read everything I could about how to set up a profile, how to pitch etc., and after 21 attempts, I landed my first job ghost writing a book, using my experience in the health industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since then my career has gone from strength to strength. I\u2019ve ghost written several more books, written website content for major corporate clients, etc., and I\u2019m fortunate that the work keeps coming in.<\/p>\n The ebb and flow of freelancing takes a bit of getting used to, but when things go a bit quiet, I always remind myself of the time back in 2013 when I thought I was never going to work again<\/strong> and I enjoy the silence for a while. I\u2019ve been working as a writer for four years, and most importantly, I am doing what I love.<\/p>\n When I gave up work and became unemployed, I thought my life was over. However, it was just the start of a new direction. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Although I racked with fear at first, taking time out gave me the opportunity to address old issues like the depression, which had dogged me for years.<\/strong><\/p>\n From my experience with unemployment, I\u2019ve found the key out of is identifying your personal barriers and then connecting with the right people who can support you through it. \u00a0Unemployment is also an opportunity to look at what you really<\/em> want to do with your life<\/strong> and to finally take that chance.<\/p>\n Note from Admin Annie, I emailed a couple follow-up questions to Jane.\u00a0 Here are her answers:<\/p>\n I was wondering whether you applied for disability when the doctor told you that you couldn\u2019t work?<\/strong><\/p>\n I did consider applying for disability, and my doctor said he\u2019d support me in a claim. However, I know how difficult it can be to qualify, and I couldn\u2019t face the thought of \u2018fighting the system\u2019. Also, I didn\u2019t want to get caught in the welfare trap as I knew that would just fuel my depression.<\/p>\n I felt that once I was ready, starting a career from home would give me some control of my life. It would me goals to work towards, and a reason to get up in a morning.<\/p>\n Many people who visually appear just like everyone else find it difficult to broach the topic of why they aren\u2019t working and feel embarrassed or concerned that others will think they are lazy.\u00a0 Did you experience anything along those lines?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have quite significant mobility problems so I had found prior to becoming unemployed that people I didn\u2019t know too well had automatically thought that didn\u2019t work because of my disability. That was something I used to be extremely conscious of, but I became less concerned over time about changing their perceptions.<\/p>\n However, when I stopped working for a bit, and it became apparent to friends and neighbors that I had more time on my hands, I did<\/em> start to worry that they might view me differently, but they know me better than that so it didn\u2019t really become an issue.<\/p>\n