SSDI disability or back to the grind?

I've been good for two years come Febuary. Just a few mild depressions. Is work what I need. I feel an overall lack of usefullness and some shame. I paid into SSDI for 38 years and I'm not scheduled for a long life with Type 1 Diabetes. So I may not collect for as long as someone who starts at 65 yrs. old. Still I feel I could work. Leave well enough alone? Volunteer? It's a small town. Very small, less than 2000 peeps. I'm embarrassed to admit I'm I'm Bi-Polar and on SSDI. People always ask when they realise your not working. As a volunteer I'd get that. If I quit SSDI I may not get back on. Has anyone here went back to work from SSDI? Did you have a relapse? Were you able to get back on?

Well, I'm going to say that just because you have type 1 diabetes doesn't mean you won't have a long life. We have a patient with type 1 who was born in 1923, just after insulin was discovered. Many of her cousins who also had type 1 died because they missed it, but she was born in time and they saved her life. So she has been on all versions of insulin from the beginning. She's 88 years old and still alive and well.

I am on SSDI and I went back to work. They give you a 9 month grace period to make however much you want. If you feel you cant do it you can always quit within those 9 months and still keep your benefits.

They also have this $1000 rule. If you make less than $1000 a month on your benefits you can keep it for up to three years while working. Thats how I understood it.

I have a part time job because I have been on SSDI for close to 5 years and I think the limit is 7 years before they reevalutate your case. Then you have to prove to them why you need to stay on SSDI.

I received all this information from a counselor at the program I am in. If you are on any type of therapy find out some information from the people at your counseling center. Thats how I know all of this.

If you want to go back to work, you should. Get a part time job so you can keep your benefits or volunteer if you want. I just went back to work because I feel I needed purpose too, I was lost and the days were dragging on and on and I was in a state of perpetual boredom so I just had to do something so I understand where you are coming from.

Good luck! Also, you can PM me anytime if you want to talk about it more. I am always here for everyone.

I have been on ssdi and have felt all the same feelings and have forced myself to find purpose i do not feel i could lose my benefits work and then relapse from what i heard it is hard to get back on i volunteer teach exercise at senior center and i still have the shame that goes along with the benefits i agree find out exactly from social security the rules try to talk to someone at social security

It's been very helpful to me to attend community college part-time. It gives me long-term goals and short-term goals. It also gives me hope that maybe one day I'll be able to work in a field that can handle my medicated highs and lows.