I want to work. Working gives me a focus outside of myself, the satisfaction of getting stuff done, the chance to be with different people and to earn some money.
I want to work. Working gives me a focus outside of myself, the satisfaction of getting stuff done, the chance to be with different people and to earn some money. The most common worries we hear about include:
- “I can’t be a reliable worker – I don’t know when the pain might stop me from going in to work, or if I’ll be able to do what’s expected of me”
- “How am I supposed to use pain management strategies at work? I haven’t got the option to pace myself, I need to get on with it!”
- “People I work with are going to think I’m not pulling my weight if I don’t do what they do”
- “I don’t know what kind of work I can do & what kind of hours I can do that I can sustain in the long term.”
- “What do I tell my employer and my colleagues about my health problems?“
- “I haven’t worked for a while. I have no idea how and no confidence about getting back to work.”
If you have some of these worries, below are links and factsheets that might help:
How to talk to your boss about pain click here
How to manage pain at work click here
A whole website dedicated to many aspects of working with a chronic illness click here
A search engine to help you find volunteer work click here
Factsheet – How to write a CV click here
I want to work and know I could manage a few hours a week – but won’t that mean I’d lose my benefits? There’s no way I could survive if that happened.