Connect with people who understand what you are going through, seek advice and surround yourself with support. We're free, anonymous, and professionally moderated 24/7.

47,612Members
1,358,869Posts
1,400,000Visitors

Stop the downward spiral

2020patchCasual Contributor15 Jan 2020, 9:05 pm AEDT

Stop the downward spiral

Hi new here and just need to talk.

I have PTSD and am a single father to a 15 year old with down sydrome.

The last year or so has been tough as i lost the support of my parents with looking after my daughter after she got home from school until i got home from work.

I struggled on for about 4 months but NDIS stopped me using funding for a carer after school and i was not earning enough for after school care plus i did not want my daughter going there for other reasons.

So i quite full time work and it was a few hard months on part time work, part centerlink before getting a carers pension. But even then my rent and car payments used that up and was living on 10 hours a week work. That got cut to 5 hours a couple months ago. Then a few days before Christmas i got 4 weeks notice to vacate my rented unit. I have never been late with rent or done anything wrong the owner wants to move in. Then to top it off, just after Christmas got told i have no more part time work.

So next week we become homeless because now i dont earn enough to rent a property where i live. The housing here is tough for 2 working people but non working its impossible as they look at using no more than 30% of your income. So my fortnightly income would not cover a weeks rent via the 30% rule.

Been to housing and vinnies etc but getting nowhere. its been dragging me down the last few months and the last month has hit me hard. Go from no sleep for 2-3 days to sleeping 2 days away. House is a mess and trying to organise moving. My sister came over to help but got upset at me because my daughters room was a mess. She got really upset at me. But she does not realise i cleaned it last week but she changes clothes 4 times a day and i just got behind on washing. plus its hard to get motivated when im feeling down with no end in site. I know i have been going down mentally but hate going to sit on a chair and talk about how i feel.

4 replies

1 - 4 of 4

In response to: Stop the downward spiral

BunniekinsSenior Contributor16 Jan 2020, 5:47 am AEDT

Re: Stop the downward spiral

@2020patch Hey 2020patch and welcome to the forum :). You are certainly going through alot atm. Have you got somewhere to stay when you finally leave? Either family or friends while you find your feet again? Can you look at a 1 bedroom place for the time being with yourself on a sofa bed ? I have a 2 bedroom villa and my daughter has her bed in the living room. It just has to be for me to afford where I want to live. Just fyi if you want to contact someone on the forums put a @ infromt of their names like I did for you that will send a notification to them of your post. Love greenpeax

In response to: Stop the downward spiral

CheerBearSenior Contributor16 Jan 2020, 8:07 am AEDT

Re: Stop the downward spiral

Hi @2020patch and welcome to the forum. There's so much happening for you and I imagine most of us would struggle with that kind of stress and pressure 🙁 When things become overwhelming for me I can struggle to keep on top of it all too and it then makes it even harder to find the motivation to keep going. I'm really sorry to hear you're facing what you are.

It's great that you can recognise you're going down mentally as perhaps you can see you might benefit from some extra support. It can be really hard to do if you don't like sitting and talking about how you feel though. Have you had much experience with talking through things to professionals?

There are some super helpful organisations who provide support over the phone or through online chat services. I can imagine you might be stretched for time and finding it difficult to get up to go to appointments at the moment. A phone or chat service might be something helpful to consider.

It's great to see you here reaching out and talking about what's going on for you. I can feel very alone when things get hard and the forum helps me not feel so alone with it all. Keep talking if it's helpful for you.

In response to: Stop the downward spiral

Gazza75Senior Contributor16 Jan 2020, 11:44 am AEDT

Re: Stop the downward spiral

Hang in there @2020patch .

Not much to add, but, you are doing a good job in very trying circumstances. Really hope you can catch a break soon. Don't be afraid to talk to someone about what you are going through and experiencing. I know it can be hard, but, it might also help.

Take care

In response to: Re: Stop the downward spiral

2020patchCasual Contributor21 Jan 2020, 2:10 am AEDT

Re: Stop the downward spiral

Thank you for your replies. Sorry for my late reply been busy moving all our gear into storage.

So we will be homeless in the next 2 days. I keep organizing things only for them to fail.

Really starting to feel i have let my daughter down. After years of going to court, four court cases the last in the supreme court and it has come to this. Hopefully she will find living in a tent for awhile fun,like camping out. Hopefully i get my bond money back and we can spend a night or two a week in a cheap hotel.

Even camping spots here are not cheap $35 - $45 a night. That is a big chunk of my income gone just to put a tent up.

I know if we can ride this out until some temp housing comes up then a goverment house we will be better off than the last 10 months of struggling to live as rent will be much cheaper.

I just cant help but feel i am letting my daughter down. As a parent i dont see we have any rights but responsabilities to keep our children safe. That is first and foremost a fathers job to look after his children. Not religous but hoping for a miracle in the next couple of days

1 - 4 of 4