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In reply to the discussion: And they finally outed that scammer OmahaSteve (part 2) [View all]Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)Although it isn't dementia, I have recently retired at the age of 35 for a severe psychiatric disability. People see you on the outside as being alright and functional, but they don't see you when you are doing bad or when your issues inhibit your activities.
Mental conditions are hard because people who don't suffer from them have no idea how they impact every aspect of a person's life. Actually, I don't even fully get just how much my psychiatric condition impacts every aspect of my life. I can't even fully explain it to someone.
Losing your identity and your ability to work does a lot of damage to a person's self esteem. I used to work as a chemist for the federal government for a number of years. It was a job that I was proud of and my wife and kids were proud of too. You get a certain level of instant clout when you can tell someone that you're a scientist. When people ask your kids what their dad does for a living they can proudly say that he is a scientist. The same with my wife. Now, I'm just disabled. So when people ask what I do now I either lie to them or tell them I don't work because I'm disabled. Physically I'm in great condition. I look young for my age and I'm in great shape. So, when I tell people I'm too disabled to work they think I'm scamming the system. That goes from everyone from random strangers to family members - including my own spouse at times.
It's a touchy subject and I get it. It's hard to not care what others think about you. We are, after all, social animals.
Its a struggle. Do your best to surround yourself with other people in your similar situation. I go to the VA hospital almost daily for either appointments or just to hang out with other veterans who are going through what I'm going through. It helps a lot to have people around you who get it. I don't know if there is anything like that available for you or for civilians, but it can make all the difference in a person's life.