u/IntentionMother8765

I'm 25 and looking to find a decent paying career that suits me. I have schizophrenia, major depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. I am doing ok now on meds, and work part time in retail at the moment while I figure out my next steps.

My previous career was IT support, but it was too social, office work, and required a lot of critical thinking. I had a bad psychotic episode and resigned.

On medication my challenges are sometimes hallucinations, paranoia, and the biggest challenges are things like avolition and anhedonia and socially fitting in with people.

I have a BS in computer science, but the tech job market is really bad for everyone. I'm not sure if I want to go back to tech.

I'm willing to do some additional schooling if it leads to an okay paying, stable career that pays at least $70k a year. I don't even need 6 figures, just enough to live on my own.

I was considering nursing, maybe doing peer support as a psychiatric nurse, maybe accounting or logistics too. I'm not really sure what would suit me.

I work part time as a stocker at a retail chain. I'm fairly new and have been working for 4 weeks now. I had no idea until recently, but the company hires secret shoppers to come in and rate employees and performance.

I failed the secret shopper because I did not smile, it was written down that I greeted them but did not smile or look happy. I was not rude to them or anything.

I got a write up due to this.

I have schizophrenia which makes me emotionally and visibly flat. The medication I take doesn't help and exacerbates this problem. I find it hard to socialize with everyone and put on a smile all day long. I don't want to get into specifics, but I get paranoid of people and don't talk much unless spoken to. I am not rude to anyone and help them if needed.

My supervisor told me I need to smile and greet people within 10 ft of me and that anyone could be a secret shopper. Now I'm even more paranoid that anyone I interact with is judging me or is a paid to evaluate my performance.

Do I have any grounds to pushback on this, and would I be able to get ADA accommodations against this sort of thing? Or should I just cut my losses and quit if this isn't going to be a good fit?

I work part time as a stocker at a retail chain. I'm fairly new and have been working for 4 weeks now. I had no idea until recently, but the company hires secret shoppers to come in and rate employees and performance.

I failed the secret shopper because I did not smile, it was written down that I greeted them but did not smile or look happy. I was not rude to them or anything.

I got a write up due to this.

I have schizophrenia which makes me emotionally and visibly flat. The medication I take doesn't help and exacerbates this problem. I find it hard to socialize with everyone and put on a smile all day long. I don't want to get into specifics, but I get paranoid of people and don't talk much unless spoken to. I am not rude to anyone and help them if needed.

My supervisor told me I need to smile and greet people within 10 ft of me and that anyone could be a secret shopper. Now I'm even more paranoid that anyone I interact with is judging me or is a paid to evaluate my performance.

Do I have any grounds to pushback on this, and would I be able to get ADA accommodations against this sort of thing? Or should I just cut my losses and quit if this isn't going to be a good fit?

^(I work part time at a grocery store, as a stocker.)

^(I go in, do my work, and go home. I'm not rude to anyone and I help customers if they need it. It's tough to be out in public because I get paranoid of people around me hearing my thoughts, but I try.)

^(We had a secret shopper come in and I got in trouble because I did not walk up and greet them. I was told I have to greet everyone within 10ft of me while working.)

^(I hate making small talk to people because I never have anything to say and my flat affect makes people think something is wrong with me. I still try to say hi and ask if they need help.)

^(My boss keeps telling me to smile and greet people. It's like I have to put on a mask when I just want to work.)

^(I just wish I was normal. This is a low paying retail job and I'm already getting in trouble because I can't socialize properly. I hate it.)

^(I work part time at a grocery store, as a stocker. I've been doing it for 1 month so I'm sort of new.)

^(I go in, do my work, and go home. I'm not rude to anyone and I help customers if they need it. It's tough to be out in public because I get paranoid of people around me hearing my thoughts, but I try.)

^(We had a secret shopper come in and I got in trouble because I did not walk up and greet them. I was told I have to greet everyone within 10ft of me while working.)

^(I hate making small talk to people because I never have anything to say and my flat affect makes people think something is wrong with me. I still try to say hi and ask if they need help.)

^(I just wish I was normal. This is a low paying retail job and I'm already getting in trouble because I can't socialize properly. I hate it.)

Smith's non-union store. I'm 1 month in and work part time. I failed some secret shopper (apparently, I was busy and didn't smile at them) and I was told by my department manager about these secret shoppers.

I'm never rude to customers and I always help them when they need assistance looking for items. However, I can't say hi and engage in lengthy conversations with everyone within 5 feet of me, otherwise I'd get half my work done.

If I fail again or multiple times, can I get written up and fired?

Also, as a sidenote, I used to work for Safeway and Walmart, and they never had secret shoppers. I personally think the secret shopper thing is bullshit and the resources Kroger is using to pay people to be secret shoppers could be allocated elsewhere.

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and I take an antipsychotic, antidepressant, and anxiety medication. I hate that I need to take all of this just to feel 'normal' and even then, it doesn't always work. I've tried so many antipsychotics and none of them have fully worked.

Trees and grass still talk to me. My car hates me and feels pain. Sometimes I can't sleep well because people talk about me. I tried sleeping with headphones on, but it didn't work before.

I had to quit my full-time job because of anxiety, and I thought my coworkers were listening to thoughts. The machinery and conveyors would talk to me too.

I hate how my meds make me feel. Like a zombie filled with anhedonia and avolition. I don't enjoy my hobbies anymore like gaming or drawing. I hardly hangout with my few friends I do have. It makes me sleep all the time and I feel cognitively slower.

I wish I was normal. I hate that I have to take a cocktail of meds and even then, it doesn't fully fix me. If I was normal, I'd be able to have a relationship, a lot more friends, a career, and more. But instead, I'm sick and held back. I likely won't ever find a relationship, a career, or move up in life. It saddens me.

I'm not trans in some biological sense, but I dislike being a male. I hate that the majority of the opposite sex doesn't find me attractive, yet I find them attractive. I don't like that I have to conform to societal standards like 'man up' or to not show emotion, or am expected to be a provider, pay for dates, and take abuse without reacting. That I can't be seen as cute or harmless. That I can't enhance my looks with makeup or put on a dress. That I can't play with my nieces in the park without people looking at me weird. That I have nobody that loves me unconditionally except my parents. I'm an average guy, average height, average job, and am neurodivergent. and I am invisible to everyone, be it dating, friendships, or to society as a whole.

Now I'm not saying women have an easier life. Especially in some other countries, I'd rather be an average man. But in the USA, I feel my life would be overall better if I was born as an average woman rather than average man. I'd receive more social attention, scholarships, higher % chance I would attend higher education, I would find relationships and a provider easier, the courts would favor me more for examples. Women of course go through their own challenges and it's not living life on easy mode, but I think, on average, I'd rather live life as an average woman than an average man.

I'm not an incel. I don't hate women or wish harm on anyone. I just dislike a lot of drawbacks of being a man. Being physically stronger doesn't really seem like some worthwhile tradeoff compared to the other benefits I could have.

Women are right to complain about being objectified, but a lesser seen comparison is that men are seen as tools. Not inherently valued for who they are or what they look like, but what they provide. I'd rather be seen as a valuable object than a useful tool. At least a valuable object has an inherit value. Now of course, nobody should be reduced down to an object or tool, and instead people should be valued for who they are.

People often talk about the benefits of being a man in the USA. I think not only is this vastly overstated but ignores average or lower-class guys. When people think of masculinity or the benefit of being male, they think of some neurotypical, tall, handsome, rich CEO. The average guy is not tall, rich, powerful, or handsome.

I'm 25 and did online school for high school. To put it short, my math skills have atrophied, and I hardly passed Algebra 1 in school. I didn't care about math in high school so I never studied it really. So, I'm basically starting from scratch.

My current knowledge is I know some arithmetic (need to brush up on it too).

My goal is to learn at least up to Calculus. I plan to study 3-4 hours every day, the plan is to self-study using resources like Khan Academy, once I hit topics like Algebra 1, to supplement with YouTube and some textbooks.

If I follow this regimen, how long should I expect to finish and get decent at math up to Calculus?

I'd like to learn in order of:

Arithmetic -> Prealgebra -> Algebra 1 -> Geometry -> Algebra 2 -> Precalculus -> Calculus

I used to work in IT before my symptoms got too bad and I quit. I have a bachelors in CS and am wanting to go to grad school for a MS in CS.

I just don't know if I can work in tech/IT anymore. It was really hard to fit in and socialize in an office with people.

After I got somewhat stabilized on some meds, I'm working part time at a grocery store, stocking produce. I make less money but I'm also less stressed.

Unfortunately making so little money isn't viable for me long term. I really hope I can get a good paying job despite the setback's schizophrenia has given me. I just don't know if I can do it.

25M, I worked in IT for a few years until I had mental illness problems this last year. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had to quit my IT job. I've only recently stabilized on medication and want to get back into a career.

I currently work at a grocery store stocking produce part time. I have a CS degree from SNHU, a CCNA, A+, Network+, Security+, and other IT certs.

What jobs can I get with this? I feel like my mental problems have really limited me. I have an issue socializing with people (especially in offices), I have a lot of problems with avolition and anhedonia. I feel like the meds or this illness kind of slow me down and make my memory, socializing, and problem solving a lot worse.

I actually enjoy my produce stocking job because it doesn't involve much socializing and it's pretty straightforward and easy, just labor intensive. The problem is it doesn't pay enough.

I'm trying to earn $60k a year or more. I don't need 6 figures. I just want to be happy.

Just turned 25.

I feel hopeless and like a failure.

I don't make a lot of money. No career right now.

Never hugged or kissed anyone. Never been in a relationship.

I only have 2 good online friends and have no RL friends.

My days off consist of me sitting in my room and not doing anything, mostly due to lack of money and anxiety.

Still live with my parents. I pay some bills and am not a bum, but I can't afford to live on my own unless I want to sleep in my car.

I work part time in a shitty job stocking at a grocery store and make $15.50 an hour. I used to work in IT but was battling my mental health (diagnosed with schizophrenia last year) and only recently have I gotten stable on medication.

The only upside to my life is that I have my degree in computer science. But the tech jobs are so bad that it's a paperweight and I doubt with my mental health I can do an office job.

No career. No relationships. No prospects of every buying a home. Hardly any friends. It's hard to feel good about life like this.