How do you keep yourself busy and sane if you are disabled?

Question

I'm referring to long term disability where the chances of returning to work are slim.

Answer 1

Are you able to get out? There are plenty of nonprofit organizations who need volunteers.

Although I am not disabled, I do not want to be tied down to a "9 to 5" job. Staying at home now the kids are adults is boring, so I volunteer. Personally, I volunteer to do office work the local blood bank. Sometimes I am able to bring the work home.

Answer 2

I was temporarily permanently disabled. I spent nearly 2 years in a wheelchair due to 2 broken legs and a broken hand/wrist. The first six months I was a resident at a physical rehabilitation center as well as in and out of the hospital for surgeries. During most of that time, I mostly did nothing except therapy and healing amid all the pain and discomfort.

Upon returning home, however, I was able to actively pursue some of my old life-long hobbies. The sit-in-a-chair sedentary type of hobbies. My hobbies are stamp collecting and model building, so being in a wheelchair and using crutches to get around were good activities for me.

That was six years ago and I have only returned to work occasionally by working retail jobs. Other than that, I keep myself busy. My main source of income now is selling stuff online thru my own website and on an Ebay-type commerce site. I have now grown accustomed to this lifestyle change and do not have any desire to return to normal work.

My biggest adjustment was having less money and living as simply and low-cost as possible. The shift from earning big bucks to earning very little is a huge change for me. Now that I am my own boss, the amount of money I generate is now directly related to how hard I wish to work.

It is possible to remain sane and productive when disabled. One big obstacle is defeating depression which can lead to all sorts of problems and make it harder to be productive.

Answer 3

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I do various things like word puzzles, play online games, read, watch movies and on the weekends my husband takes me to the park so I can get fresh air, and if feeling well enough, I walk about. Mainly though, the park is for the kids since I cannot get outside and play with them. That way they can run and play all they want. I also have taken up various little hobbies to keep me busy. One day it might be finding a lost stray a new home, or making bead necklaces. I've done candle making, sewing things, and I volunteer to make things for my kids schools, since I can certainly still use a hot glue gun. LOL I keep a journal for myself for the bad days when I just need to vent safely or throw myself a pity party. That seems to help, and it helps me to understand where my mind is at later on when I read what I had written on a good day. I sometimes go outside and garden, if I am able to that day. Sometimes I go to a friends house and play cards or we just sit and talk. Sometimes we go on small car trips to another little city to look around. There's about a billion little things to do with your time if you just look around at your possibilities. I don't have a lot of money, so most of what I do is cheap or free. The thing you have to do though is keep your mind working. I keep my mind sharp by reading, socializing, and doing word puzzles or logic puzzles. Those things really can help to keep your mind busy. You might even check into your local community and see if they have any activities you can enroll into for disabled community members. Sort of like they do for the elderly people? They have those little meetings of sorts, and they can go play cards, go bingo or have a luncheon. Some places have events just the same for disabled people as well.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I've had several bouts of long term illnesses that lasted longer than a year. I kept from going insane by small projects that gave me a sense of achievement when they were completed. These included:
* changing the fabric on our dining room chairs
* crocheting afghans
* designing a family newsletter
* acting as a moderator on a internet site

The key was no-stress activities but ones that actually achieved small differences.

Answer 5

my boyfriend is partially disabled, hopefully just temporary, but is has been a year. he had a stroke.
he spend his time playing free poker on line, does sudoko, other computer crosswords. doc says that is good, keeps his mind active.
he reads a lot
watches tv in the evenings..
we have another 3 months before going to the doc to see if he can return to work

Answer 6

praying the rosaries.