Really lost, not sure where to turn...

hi @MsKitty and welcome

Im sorry i dont have much advice for you but i wanted to welcome you to the forums. i also suffer from ptsd and anxiety amongst others so i can understand some of the challanges you face.

please feel free to have a look around and join in wherever you like. if you put an @ before a members name itll tag them for you, this way theyll recieve a notification that your talking to them.

perhaps @Sans911 @Snowie @eth @Eve7 may be able to share some more advice

Hi @MsKitty @outlander

MsKitty I am on both disability support pension (many years) and NDIS (2 1/2 years) and don't believe they should affect your employability. Tho' there is a limit to the hours you can do and keep your pension. Having NDIS funding has changed my life for the better (much better), but getting accepted can be a difficult process. I started a thread called Re: Anyone started with the NDIS when I began that journey and it has lots of information in it if you have time to read through.

Also, for me, EMDR and dialectic therapy with my psychologist combined with eventually finding the meds that work for me from my psychiatrist is keeping me fairly stable and out of hospital for some time now (out of hospital since 2009). I have both complex PTSD and bipolar 1. I also keep a monitoring chart of my meds taken and moods daily which helps me monitor myself closely so I can make adjustments of activities when I need to and manage better. It can take a while to adjust to new meds and see the benefits/problems on them but it's worth persevering. We aren't allowed to mention specific meds here.

Sorry this is so brief. You might like to google the things I've mentioned and then ask me some questions.

To tag me you type @ and a dropdown box will appear with my name in it that you can click on. Then it will show in your post as @eth and I'll get a notification that you've posted.

For me, iv used what makes sense to me.

Knowledge is power!

im a little bit different in that I have complex ptsd, adhd, and all the anxieties that can go with them ie social and general.

it was important for me to find out what things trigger and understand the reactions I would have.

this is easer said than done as sometimes, at the point of no return, I don’t even know I am reacting.

but! If I do know I can tell my husband I’m not feeling ok and 1. Avoid the situation and or 2. Try to identify it as such in order to have some control.

talk therapy with a psychologist has helped me to, along with certain medications.

in all tho, it takes an approach from many angles to target each problem, and there are no quick fixes!

you CAN make it easer but it takes time.

My advise is to read up on anxiety and how it affects us, although, be careful of what you read on line as someone is always selling some kind of rubbish cures and they can be quite convincing..

if your not sure about a page, get one of the helpers around here to look at it for you.

And best wishes

Chau! (Hello in South American Spanish)

I see you are going through similar stuff to what I have been through. My work trauma left me disabled and traumatised. I had no choice but to go on the Disability Support Pension and receive the NDIS. I have used this opportunity to do a lot of the stuff I always wanted to do. Basically, if you are really unwell, the pension and the NDIS are good. Being on these doesn't mean you are brain-dead. In fact, if you get them and use your time to do stuff that is constructive, such as retraining in a field you've dreamed of, or doing some volunteer work to help those worse off, or even to participate in effective medical treatment, the sheer fact that you've shown initiative will appear as proactive by any smart employer. Someone at Centrelink once told me that I should always apply for the government benefit that best fits my medical situation. It is not good for unwell people to be on Newstart benefits, for example. Maybe you co guild have a long chat with each of your doctor and your local Centrelink office. Additionally, there are some really good job networks out there who help people with special needs to get work. First of all, I would get my medical situation sorted before I engaged with anything. Tell me what you think.

And by the way, I've been through 23 psychiatrists. The guy I see now is the best. If you don't like a doctor you may have to try another. Often the best psychiatrists are the ones who bulk bill, because they see the worst cases, and wider and more varied cases.