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Can you remember the quick answers you had during childhood? “I want to be a fireman, a nurse, a teacher, a pilot....”

As we matured, the answer to that question became more and more difficult. Our minds and maturity developed, we became more aware of our personal strengths while ideas were forming on what we might do for a living. The long track of learning that profession began and your education suddenly had an objective.

Yet somewhere in the midst of this came an unexpected discovery of some mental struggle.

However it may have manifested itself having a mental illness undoubtedly had its impact on your job or career goal. Perhaps you never had the chance to attempt to work because of your unpredictable disorder. If you have ended up hospitalized or this condition has reoccurred several times, the costs of this soon became unmanageable.

Hospitalizations that lasted months for weeks, doctors’ fees, and multiple prescriptions drove us and our families broke. Soon thereafter, you were forced to get Medicaid, Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income. Once you finally qualified—what a tremendous relief it was. Since then, an entire new set of rules has governed your life regarding how much you are able to earn. But, unless you were living rent-free at home or with a relative, what you were paid by these benefits was barely enough to live on.

Perhaps you then qualified for some sort of subsidized rent or housing though another mental health agency in your county. Don’t get me wrong; we should all be very thankful that these programs are an option for us.

Our job became seeing doctors, taking medications, going to therapists and specialists. Perhaps the boredom of being unproductive got to you too much and maybe you never lost that drive to still have a job. Some have found a mental health clubhouse with some sort of transitional employment (TE) program. Many of us just could not live on the limited income that was decided for us.

Many of us choose to go back to work, but rarely does a mentally ill person who was on long-term SSD, SSI, and/or Medicaid, return to full-time work again.

There is good news with the Medicaid Buy-in option where you can keep Medicaid when you are earning money by paying a premium based on your income. You can visit http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/ttwork.htm

The main concern becomes how to juggle your part-time job so that you do not go over what you’re allowed to earn. I highly suggest talking this over with your counselor and know what you can make each month. There is no reason to be afraid of this process, but you will need to be organized. There is help to get us away from this lifestyle of dependence. I know many people with a variety of mental illnesses and am amazed at the capabilities that most of them possess.

Can there by financial independence after receiving disability benefits?

The answer is YES! We'll explore those options in future columns. If you’re considering doing this, we wish to send you out into the world well-informed and equipped to get the job done!