Why do emotional conditions get overlooked but not intellect

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It seems that people with intellectual conditions get more help and support. I know someone with Down's Syndrome and someone else with learning disabilities (it affects his speech) who get financial support and only have a part-time job of about 10 hours a week. Not that they don't deserve it, because they do, but people who are average with intelligence but still have challenges in other aspects seem to get overlooked and expected to take part in the ''real world'' and get full-time jobs and not be qualified for any financial support.

What I mean by that is, people who suffer with panic and anxiety disorder, Bipolar, high-functioning (average IQ) autism/Asperger's, and other things like that seem to be the ones that get overlooked. My Asperger's affects me emotionally the most, and to me it is a disability (I know most Aspies don't like calling it that, but to me I feel it is a disability), and working can feel very daunting for me. But I have been denied of any financial support several times, and I really cannot cope with full-time work. Time to myself is very essential to me, and I find life stressful. I get really stressed and anxious at work when I feel under pressure or we're short-staffed, but I still have to carry on like an NT person who has better coping skills.

It's so sad that society doesn't realise how afflicting anxiety can be. But I suppose people just think that anxiety, stress and depression can be cured by medication. I'm on medication myself, and it works to a degree, most definitely, but it still doesn't increase my coping skills at work. My anxiety disorder won't go away. It isn't fair.

Sorry to hear that you're struggling at work. What do your coworkers/bosses do when you're having a tough time?

Some people get financial support for emotional issues, and it's a long road trying to prove that they need it. On paper, it can be difficult to objectively show that emotional difficulties/mental health issues interfere with one's ability to get or keep a job. Also, people worry that if they offer financial support to someone who could do without, that person won't have enough incentive to get better and work.

Intellect is easier to measure objectively. And, in the case of Down's syndrome, impossible to fake. So it is easier to give benefits without fraud concerns. So see a similar bias against pain issues--easy to fake--hard to get benefits. MS is a telling example. Much easier to get benefits if you can see actual lesions on the brain. Very hard if you can't.

Joe, as long as you DO work, the aid agencies assume that you CAN work.

If you are hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, survive a suicide attempt, or if you are repeatedly fired for meltdowns at work, that will definitely be factored into a severity score that affects whether you are eligible for financial support.

It's kind of a no-win situation you find yourself in. I have helped several people get disability assistance, but it's debatable if I will qualify myself. Fortunately, I have a physical disability as well (what kind of world is it where you consider a physical disability good fortune?!) so that may make my application more successful.

I hope you won't have a functioning decline due to the stress of working. If you do, you are that much more deserving of financial support - though it is still debatable if you will receive it.

Personally, I like you and consider you a brave and plucky young woman who is doing a great job of having the most normal life you can. I hope you can survive without having breakdowns or losing employment. Maybe it is knowing where to set your boundaries so you don't go all the way over the brink. Good luck, hon!

Where I am, I still got help through school and I still get SSDI and I still got a job through a company that employs people with disabilities. I have a DX of anxiety, OCD, and Asperger's. The other labels I have had all seem to be irrelevant.