During the pandemic, there were several events that strongly triggered my mental illnesses. I live with schizoaffective disorder, OCD, PTSD, and anxiety and over the last few months my symptoms have worsened and are now debilitating. Because of the anxiety, frequent panic attacks, hallucinations, and other symptoms, I have been struggling at work and with doing even simple things like getting gas for my car independently.

My psychiatrist has recommended that I significantly reduce my hours at work, potentially even changing to a less stressful job, apply for social security disability insurance, and do intensive outpatient mental health treatment. This will mean losing my employer-sponsored insurance and taking a drastic pay cut.

James and I have been aggressively reducing our expenses, but it will not be enough to cover the cost of insurance, mental health treatment, and even just basic living expenses until we are able to move into an apartment with lower rent in October and I am (hopefully) approved for disability after the mandatory five month waiting period during which time I can only work a little.

We have put this off and tried everything to think of a way to make it work without help, but it's just not possible. And without lowering my stress level and doing intensive treatment, we fear that my symptoms will make me unable to work at all. We are hopeful that, with treatment, my symptoms will reduce and I will eventually be able to go back to working full time.

We are extremely grateful for your help! All funds will go towards basic living expenses and psychiatric care.