It is both exciting and scary to think about getting off disability. I was on SSDI for 10 years. I got off it 7 1/2 years ago through the Ticket To Work program that jo_thorne gave you the link for. Ticket To Work was really important for me. What they do is help you to decide on a career/job direction and then supply the vocational training needed to get you to your goal. While they are doing this, your medical reviews are postponed - so while you are working towards your goal even if you get "better" they won't kick you off disability until you have finished your plan. That was important to me.

I ended up doing some schooling because I needed to change careers - from a stressful one to a less stressful one. That also gave me a chance to gradually do more and more as I gained confidence and got better. By the time I finished my schooling, I was ready to work full time.

There is a special provision for people on SSI where once you earn over the maximum in a month you don't lose your entire benefit (like you do on SSDI), but they decrease your benefit by $1 for each $2 you earn. This means that as you earn more money your benefit gradually decreases, but there isn't a cliff where all of the sudden you are on your own.

In addition to going to school, I also did some volunteering. Volunteering is great because it gets you into a "work" environment without the stresses. If you can't come in one day they will be sad, but not mad. And they love you because you are doing work for free! So another way to ease into things is to do some volunteering. One of my volunteer placed eventually hired me part time.

You need to be healthy enough to start the process. But I found that embarking on my vocational plan with Ticket To Work helped me get better. It was great to have someone supporting me and confident that I would be able to succeed.

Good luck!