Archive for 'HIV'
HIV: PRACTICAL MATTERS-USING THE SOCIAL SERVICES: WHEN TO STOP WORKING
Often your qualification for income from the social services comes down to a question of legal disability, which involves making a decision about when to stop working. Most people quit when the stress of getting to work, working, and getting home again becomes overwhelming. Some people quit work after their employers have pressed them to quit. Some people quit after they have had a specific mishap, like an assignment done badly or an accident with a machine or while driving. People usually work as long as they can. Some people quit gradually. They work half-days for a long time, or they arrange for a leave of absence. The importance of the decision to quit work should not be underestimated. It is one of the most difficult decisions people with AIDS have to make. Our image of ourselves as competent and useful members of society depends to some extent on our jobs. When no one pays us to do a job, we worry that we are no longer worth anything at all. Caregivers often forget the extent to which people identify themselves with their jobs. Caregivers worry about the people they’re caring for and want to protect them against stress and fatigue and accidents. Because of their worries, they sometimes urge the person with AIDS to quit working before he or she is ready. Some people welcome the chance to assess whether they really want to work. Some people decide to quit work and manage the transition well. These people see the decision not as whether to quit but as how to change. They believe that life is the process of developing one new identity after another. They want to try a new identity—to be a writer or traveler or teacher or artist or builder or musician or inventor. Many do volunteer work. Many others become AIDS activists.*213\191\2*