Hello,
I am new and also need some advice :) I hope to be able to also dish out some advice or comfort of my own soon enough!
I can't seem to find much help online about this, I will keep this as short as possible.
I am a long term sufferer of depression, since childhood. After working full-time from the age of 16 I quit my job after I could no longer cope at 22 years old, 6 months or so after that I decided to seek help as I wanted to end my life, I was diagnosed with depression, social anxiety, agoraphobia and also had an alcohol dependency.
Thankfully with medication and therapy I feel I am over the worst of my depression although I do still get bouts of it, nothing I can't handle and not anywhere near as bad as it was. I have also been sober for 4 years but my social anxiety is still currently a problem and with that I rarely leave the house. I have been absolutely terrified at the thought of going back to work which has led me to be where I am now at 26 and still not working.
I make and sells things to earn a living at the moment. Unfortunately due to my childhood and my state of mind, I never went to college and got a higher education although I always wanted to, but I had to work full time in retail in order to leave home which I could just afford and no more, so retail is the only work experience I have really apart from some pharmacy work in which I got a minor qualification for understanding and dispensing medication.
Now after all of these years I am regaining some drive and ambition back and I find myself looking at online college degrees which I wouldn't have to pay for until I am employed. I would love a higher education. I like to learn, I am passionate about cultures, history and people and would like a career in which I could be creative but also help people in some way, so I would love to study an arts and humanities degree.
So my questions are....After 4 years of unemployment due to mental health issues, is it possible to study a college degree and think about starting a family within the time it will take to complete and then go back to work? Would anyone employ me? Should I be truthful about my mental health? Would anyone understand why I didn't work for an employer for so long? I feel that with finally doing something meaningful with my life it will help me with my mental well being but I'm not sure how difficult it is getting back into work after such a long break because of health
It has took a long time for me to even get to this stage where I feel confident enough and deserving enough to actually do something with my life now that I can see a future for myself, but I don't want to start something so huge and expensive if the only people that would ever employ me again are retail type work employers.
Anyone have any similar experience with this?