Yes, off long term sick for just over five years. I didn’t feel much about it but sadly I did get judged a few times by people I knew. How’s work going was an awkward question from family.
I’m currently unemployed following my Boxing Career ( Currently no pay) I Uber eats on my motorcycle during rush hours here and there at an attempt to pay my bills. I’m fucking broke but never felt better.
A couple years. Rough at first but I got used to it. Kicking the routine of the weekly work schedule was weird. I really started to notice how I was trained to be controlled and manipulated in school as a kid to basically boot lick bosses and managers. It’s disgusting. Now I’m self employed and do just enough work to pay bills.
I graduated from university into a recession, and stayed unemployed for seven or eight years (with some volunteer work, freelancing, and part-time limited hours jobs scattered throughout.) I felt bad enough that no-one wanted to employ me, but the people I dealt with while claiming unemployment benefits just made it infinitely worse. I was disabled, a young graduate, doing everything I could, and they still resented my existence. It’s shit, it really is. Keep your chin up.
I usually go about 2-3 months when I find myself out of work. And it’s been several times. 2006. 2017. 2024. 2-3 months each time.
In January 2024, I placed an ad on my local subreddit. Any work. Anything to do. Any pay. Something that I could do with the assumption that I’d not be there long. I wound up being a carpenters apprentice for 2 plus months. Then landed a job in my field again.
It was the best experience that I have had in a decade or more.
Yes and it’s both the best and the worst. I have a degree with almost a decade of experience when covid and post covid hit. I basically just sold everything I owned, moved into my car, and door dashed for 2 years. It was survivable, I felt the most freedom I ever had in my life with time and mental health, but I was also the most vulnerable Ive ever been financially and comfortably. I sacrificed a lot to do this and it gave me time to reflect on what I really wanted, who I really am as a person, and what I should do about it. It’s quite stimulating to find yourself voluntarily at rock bottom. You see all of your options clearly and you can build a life plan from scratch. But you also see your old friends and family, and how they’re doing and notice that you’re very far behind them socio-economically.
I recommend it, but it’s very dangerous if you stay in this position for a long time.
I spent the first 33 years of my life with background anxiety, existential dread, and listless goals. I spent 2 years homeless with minimal daily responsibilities and goals, and left my homeless life to return to where I was in a better place. I haven’t had any anxiety attacks, toxic thoughts, or self sabotaging choices in years.
Obviously I didn’t have a wife, girlfriend, kids, or anything else. So I was able to be as selfish as I possibly wanted during this time.
Everyone goes through their own enlightenment journey in different ways. Mine just happened to be based on living like a nomad.
i’m coming up on a year. i had a bad series of events (the company i was working for got sold, i got sick enough i almost died & pulled my retirement to live off of). i’m glad i’m not dead but it still doesn’t feel good to not work this long.
I was freelance for 11 years. It was brutal. Then I got full time employed for a year. It was great. Got laid off two weeks ago due to tariffs. Back to being unemployed.
There’s always some way to make money. Just understand that your job is not you and does not define your worth. That’s the rat race exerting its control over you.
I got fired during the pandemic and was not actually employed for a year and a half but still made money. I did gig work and contract work for that year and a half and I felt SO good. Never been so happy to be unemployed before. It was liberating and I felt so free but it was also unstable, unpredictable, and unsustainable. I had no honor or pride. I had no niche and got by on networking, willingness, desperation and luck alone. I felt amazing but begrudgingly I had to re-enter the work force because “savings, retirement, healthcare, society, fear blah blah blah”. Oh but I still lack honor and pride. LoL
Well, I got evicted from an apartment, couldn’t find housing. Became really difficult to become presentable and lost my job. I stayed homeless and (with the exception of a few short temp jobs) jobless for years.
It’s a cycle, you feel useless and unproductive and the longer you go that way the harder it becomes to become useful and productive again.
The cycle broke when an old friend offered me a job and a spot to shower regularly. Now I live (with roommates) in a beautiful house, and work as much as I can
Helpless and without stability. I don’t think people understand that being able to work is a privilege. It certainly sucks when you can’t work but are told to figure something out.
Great. I just took 1.5 years off work. I got unemployment benefits and have a lot of savings from my career. Next month I’m starting a new job. Really looking forward to it but also enjoyed my time off.
In 2017 I did something similar and took 5 months off. Went travelling around Southeast Asia for 2 months.
I was laid off from my job in May 2021 my Soulmate/Husband passed that same year a month before on April 21,2021. It was a horrible year for me I stayed out of work the rest of 2021, but luckily I had my family & friends to help me pull through. Ironically I was recently laid off AGAIN on March 27,2025; but I have acquired another job.
I actually loved it. Theres so many ways to make money out here that you don’t need a full time role to do so. I like to save majority of my money by working really hard for a few months, then living unemployed for other months. 100% worth it. It also helps that I don’t spend money the typical way that people do so it stretches for quite a while.
For over a year, thankfully I had freelance to fall back to but it was one of the worst times of my life, comparable to the loss of my father to cancer. It is underestimated how much we tie our self worth with work in our society – being unemployed feels like being invisible, worthless and like you don’t belong
Was fun the first few months when I had my savings to help pay the bills and out food on the table. Was less fun in the later months when said savings was starting to run out
The first few weeks are hopeful. Then it starts to drag. Then every bit of unemployment and every $100 you had stashed away runs out.
Then you really start to get depressed, and wish that the jobs you applied to would just say no instead of ghosting you
Then when you finally do get a job, as soon as the elation wears off, you almost immediately get sick as a result of being around new people and new germs.
i have been for over a year now. 7 months ago i finally got diagnosed and medicated for adhd and i started to like being alive again. unfortunately, it lead me to realise i was being abused at home and i had to find alternative arrangements, which was really hard. 3 months later i’m finally feeling safe for the first time in my whole life
all of my energy was spent surviving and i couldn’t even think of working, but i was still miserable having nothing to do and it made it worse. guess it means i’m finally healing – i have 2 interviews this friday 🙂
I was mostly unemployed for about 10 months. Left a profession. Could not find replacement work. Did some substitute teaching. Applied to dozens of jobs and heard nothing. It was the lowest point of my life. Eventually I was in such need of cash I started washing dishes, which I did for about two years before getting back into my field.
Yes, for 6 years. I went back to school (at 28), got my undergrad, got married and started a family all in that time. I was laid off during the last big recession and couldn’t find a job after 6 months of looking. That’s why I went back to school instead. It sucked being an older broke college student, but I’m glad I did it and it got me into the successful career I’m in now. All in all, it’s not about the obstacle itself (not having a job), it’s how you navigate it.
Been five years now but I’m crippled so I can’t work. It’s stressful to say the least and hunger lingers but you learn to appreciate things more I suppose. If I find .25 cents on the ground I’d be happy.
Got laid off and spent 3 months enjoying the joblessness. Starting applying and practicing my technical skills after that but it was a major downturn in the job market for my industry and I struggled to find a job for the next 8 months. Those 8 months were seriously tough for me mentally, though financially I had a nice chunk of savings to tide me through. It still hurt me financially to burn through so much of it and even now I feel many steps behind my original pace in my financial security. Buying a house will certainly not happen for a while longer :/
I feel good, but that might have to do with the fact that I get a little government assistance. I just wish I had more money to enjoy the luxuries, but I feel good actually.
Entirety of 2010. It was rough. I was single with no kids so I got by on the extended unemployment benefits, but it didn’t feel great. Been working consistently since then, however. Almost 8 years with current company(In a union trade and get hired out of the hall). So as down as it got me in 2010, things definitely got better. We’ll see where this economy is heading, married with kids now, unemployment won’t cut it long term this time.
Oh Thanks ! I am disabled and try working all of the time never seems to work since every Friday like clockwork I have a seizures. So I’m in my 30s and want to at least have a part time job but even then I’m still struggling with my health.
5 months. I had just gotten married. My wife was pregnant. It was awful, we ended up moving out of state and in with one of her family members for like 6 months. It all worked out, but man, but that was a ROUGH year.
10 months but I had a decent separation package. I was also picking up side work. But my kids were younger and it weighed heavily on me. There were times when I’d be driving —look in the mirror—and say to myself, “I don’t have a job”.
Have a job that I could make peoples full salaries in 6 months pretty easily. Is pretty common to get laid off for a couple months in the year when you start.
I was unemployed from March 2020 to about January 2022. Longest period of unemployment (and not actively in college or anything at the same time.) I loved it. Got a little restless but I found lots to do. I love being home and free to do what I want.
I’m immuno-compromised and after being laid off right before Covid shutdowns in USA my doc advised I lay low until a vaccine came along. So it was a nice long vacation lol.
It’s awesome til the money runs out, then you realize how having fun isn’t always cheap and you need to do something to facilitate having the lifestyle you want
I’ve never dug myself into a hole of debt, but I certainly blew through a good chunk of savings
Currently unemployed for 20 months now. Living off my savings and I have about another 9 months or so before I have to start working off my reitrement (assuming there is anything left to pull considering the current administrations speedrunning economic death spiral) and try to keep my home.
I look, apply, hear nothing back or are told you are either overqualified, underqualified, not good enough, or are radioactive because you have been unemployed for so long (and working wherever I can find may give me some money, but it usually isn’t enough to live off of, but yet too much so that I lose benefits like medicaid or food stamps.
Some days I feel hopeful when I find something that would be a perfect fit, and others I feel like I want to just pack it all in, and game over it (but I love my nephews and neices too much to follow through.)
I am pissed because I worked my ass off for 30 years to get to this point, had excellent employee evaluations and a great reputation, and I am sure made some people/corporations wealthy and yet…through no fault of my own, I am at risk of losing everything.
I’m disabled. I went from a workaholic to not being able to take care of myself. Social worker told me to apply for benefits last week. I have never felt more useless or depressed in my life.
It was the most miserable experience. Way back in the mid-2000s, there was a jobless recovery and so people with 10-15 years of experience were applying for lower-level jobs. People with 2-5 years experience were being crowded out. I was unemployed for close to a year.
I felt useless. I felt like I was outside of society. It was the most awful moment I’ve ever experienced.
Currently have been unemployed since September, at first I was fine and I decided to take a couple months off….then it turned in needing to work on some crap in my head now it’s just depression that I’m trying to get through.
My wife was laid off in a really ugly way in November 2023. I knew it was the beginning of a downturn in Canada, and figured she might be out of work for maybe 6-8 months given the labour market was so gross.
It’s been 18. She’s felt incredibly dejected. I support her when I can, but I know at times it’s
In one year out the other.
Imma break the pattern of puritan work ethic on display in this thread and admit that it was the most personally productive time of my life. Being broke and lonely made it impossible to prolong, but I have never finished so many projects in such a short period of time before or since. Being self motivated helps.
Reintegration into “productive society” requires some major capacity for cognitive dissonance that everyone else seems well accustomed to, however.
Yeah back in 2010-2011. One of the worst years of my life. Luckily I had family to stay with, but having no money basically means you have no choice but to stay home all day and look for work. I’d get a weekly ride to the library and take out a bunch of books for something to pass the time. No one was hiring in my area.
This is before the whole Uber/Doordash thing, so obviously those couldn’t be a source of income.
Two years unemployed after my industry collapsed. Felt like a ghost-invisible to the world, screaming into resumes. Then I freelanced for peanuts, rebuilt piece by piece. Now? Grateful for the grit it forced into me. Survival teaches what success never can.
I’ve done both standard employment and freelance. Personally I prefer freelance. I deal with stress well. It’s not always fun living paycheck to paycheck and constantly hunting clients and gigs, but it can be rewarding and in many ways I feel far more in control of my life and time.
Almost a year. At first it was nice. My job closed so I got money the first few months because it was their fault (idk how to explain better). So the summer (I was let of in May) was a blast. Money for doing nothing AND being free the whole summer?? NICE. But then everyone I knew returned to their jobs or studies around September and I was just so bored. Then I felt bad, like I didn’t contribute to society. I applied for jobs but didn’t get any because I hadn’t gone to uni. The date for applying to uni had passed as well so I had to wait like 4 months to apply to next semester. I just felt unaccomplished and like a freeloader.
I was unemployed from 2010 – 2015, and it left me severely depressed. It’s utterly demoralising and really stunted my personal development. Heck, even when I finally found work, I was a freelancer until 2022.
People always say “comparison is the thief of joy” as if that magically solves everything, but it really does suck to see all of your peers get their own places, settle down and start families etc, while I’m in my 30s and still living in the family home.
Shit sucked. I quit a job bc the hours were just too much, not having anything else to go to. Shortly after that I broke my right fibula skateboarding and didn’t have a job until about 2 months ago. This all started around June last year.
Twice. One company closed and the other company was bought out just before Covid and my position eliminated. Both times off work for a couple of years.
I had plenty of savings so we were fine. My wife still worked so we had insurance.
I spent a lot of time with my kids, volunteering at school, coaching sports. It was a good time.
It depends on whether it’s your choice (gap year,having savings,travelling) or not your choice (cant find a job,broke). The first feels pretty amazing,yes it can boring but it feels like this is what life was all about if you take use of it and don’t just lie on your bed 24/7. The second I imagine feels debilitating and my stomach drops just thinking about it. Especially people with no support like family and friends, its crazy to be anxious about your next meal.
In the last 4 years I have been unemployed twice. Once after a move and while finishing school, and once after getting let go during a round of layoffs. Both periods of unemployment lasted longer than six months, and were extremely stressful.
I applied for unemployment insurance, and my family helped to support me, but that long without an income was so terrifying to me. I applied to 5-15 jobs on average every single day, and it still took me 6 months to find work. And that happened twice.
I now strive to be the single best person on my team to avoid any possible reason for a layoff, and I still get worried about unforeseen layoffs or cuts to my industry (thanks Trump and DOGE)
I lost a lot of weight which was nice because I was starving. I learned you really don’t need much food to get by, just basic stuff. Not good for you though. It’s funny you stop craving things when you’re absolutely broke, you just need sustenance. Thanks to friends I kept the roof over my head but only just. I present well, probably no one knew just how close I was to homeless.
About a year last year. It’s depressing. You find ways to keep yourself busy, cleaning, organizing, etc. Watching your bank account slowly dwindle not know if you’ll have enough next month.
0/10 would not recommend
Kind of. I was a stay at home mom for 12 years. I was definitely working, and I adore my kids, but it’s an intense kind of lonely, and I was depressed at times. I started working as a para a few years ago. I’m not exactly making bank, but I apparently have an intense passion for working with special needs kids. It’s been a game changer for me.
Hope that you are ok
I was unemployed for close to a year. I think after 10 months, I was able to get a new job. But it was terrible. you really start to feel it, and I’m not one for the hippy dippy ‘the universe gives you what you put out’ shit, but…. it’s hard to get hired, when you feel so depressed and down on yourself.
I’m in my mid 40s now, and other than that 1 stretch (back when I was like 25), I’ve never left a job without having another lined up. and when I switch jobs, my new bosses always say they loved my confidence in the job interview. and I realize that when I was unemployed, I had no confidence, and I probably just bombed every single job interview because I came off really sad.
I remember, specifically, going to one job interview during a blizzard. I had called to see if they could reschedule, because it was like a 40 minute drive. when they said no, I made it there despite the weather. turns out I was the only one who made it in the weather, so I thought ‘fuck yeah! this is a sure thing!’ nope – they rescheduled everyone else’s (I had gotten the interview through a head hunter, who was equally made for me).
During this time, I was fortunate enough to be able to move back in with my parents. I had always gotten along with them well enough, but not this time. Even though this was like 2005ish, my dad stil though I was supposed to be walking around with a resume in my hand, and going into buildings and asking to talk to the bosses. At one point, I just got so depressed and hated being home, I went and got a job at a local movie theater. they hired me on the spot. My dad was so pissed at me (something along the lines of ‘you have a $200k college degree.. you’re not working nights for minimum wage!’)
it took me a very long time to find a job, as i finished uni, in a smal town in east europe. I would go to interviews and just promises or very little money. Finally I met a woman (she was dating a friend of mine) we were at lunch and she was getting ready to interview some workers. I asked if they needed an assistant. I worked there for 7 years, I loved those people and that place. I left after my son was diagnosed with autism. But thanks to the years there and experience I found a remote job, better pay. i did spend 4 years between these jobs.
Does covid count? I started working when i was 15 and never stopped until covid hit (was 21) at first it was fun, especially considering the gov relief benefit was more than i was making hourly…. Then it was less fun… and less fun…. I actually went out and tried to get jobs cause I was SO BORED. Accidentally winded up with 3 jobs at once
I just took 4 months off (middle to upper management for most of my adult life) and I legitimately realized the beauty of being happy and living within your means. I have an extensive resume in business but I am currently applying to jobs that make me happy! I took the jump and it’s beautiful.
Four months last year, best four months of the last 25 years of my life. No alarms, no commute, no forced socialization with people I don’t like. It was amazing.
I was blindsided with a moving box by a previous employee. I had a particular skill set that didn’t exist with my coworkers or the idiot who was supposed to replace me.
I was unemployed in 2008 and didn’t find a job for 11 months. My former boss even called me to come back and train my replacement! I politely declined with a nicely worded “fuck you.”
That former company folded 18 months later and my former boss was fired sooner. Our parent organization was clearly inept so I feel I dodged a bullet.
A few times, for 2-3 months. I felt so miserable and stressed about everything because literally everything costs money. So I had to live off of my savings for a car to get to work, so I could eat while I put out dozens of applications to get four responses and one interview. I found myself being very irritable and constantly arguing with my partner about everything costing money. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone who actually has to support themselves.
Lost a job during COVID. We had the unemployment stimulus and I got a good severance. It was still awful I feel for anyone in that position. Job searching is really rough when you can do it passively. When you must get a job you certainly compromise a lot more on that next job. I was single with no kids as well I really feel for people in that position.
I miss meeting new people & the rush of sparking a genuine connection with a stranger that you’ll never see again :c I don’t speak the language of my new home very well yet, so it’s incredibly hard to make friends
Years. After finishing school, life wasn’t as simple as finding a job at a nearby store. It was interview after interview, surviving until the next government handout, mentally deteriorating thinking how useless I was, thinking about dark things.
It took covid to arrive and to stop immigration for me to finally get a real full-time job. Life is better now, but the occasional memory of the dark times still pops up when I lay in bed before sleeping.
I was out of work for 6 months. 3 months was planned and even having a supportive partner who kept a roof over my head, it was stressful and depressing. We got a puppy and that’s why the 3 months off was planned. I worked for a high school so the summer months I knew I’d be out of work. What I didn’t know was that unemployment was going to refuse to pay me. Having my dog saved my sanity. It gave me a reason to get up early every day and training him became my full time job. I was also wrapping up my prerequisites for nursing school, so I had some structure to my life for the first 3 months.
Once summer was over, I was done with my prereqs and the bad weather set in, it was really hard. I was fighting unemployment to pay me, trying to find a job and trying to figure out how the hell I was going to pay for nursing school once I got accepted.
Having no job for 6 months really showed me how badly I need structure and purpose. I definitely need money too, but not feeling a sense of contribution is what really impacted my mental health.
It was one of the best times in my life. I had been working nonstop for years. Saved a lot of money while working. Everyone was acting like it was the end of the world with my layoff. I finally had time for me.
For 3 months once but I was a single dad of 5 kids so it was very hard. This was early 2000a when all those tough man contests in bars were going on. I went to every one for 3 months. First paid 250 to 500. Kids were the motivation. They never noticed a difference or knew I wasn’t working.
I was unemployed for a year and a half. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have my cousins letting me live with them. It was a literal life saver. I was a worsening alcoholic by the day at my last place (think 10-15 beers a night, go to work, hate everything there, come home, turn on halo, rinse repeat) with an abusive roommate and an inhumane manager. I had to get out of there. So when my cousins let me come stay with them? Man, I can’t tell you how grateful I am.
They just helped me get a new car, too! Well, new to me at least.
Oh, absolutely, for nearly a year after tying the knot and fleeing to a new city, I was living the dream—best phase of my life, hands down. But then, shocker, sitting alone at home got old fast. So, I decided to rejoin the land of the living and started working again this January. Because, you know, boredom is the ultimate motivator..
The US is hustle culture based so there is a stigma with being unemployed. It can make you feel like shit. Anyone new you meet asks what you “do” and people who know your unemployed ask if you found a job and give very unhelpful suggestions (never tell a boomer you’re unemployed) The bad/good news is today (after Covid) most people either have experience with being laid off or know a lot of people who have and everyone is having trouble finding a new job/it’s taking longer to find work. That being said, the toll on your mental and physical heath is real. As a short term contractor who is literally always looking for work my tips in no particular order. Keep a routine, get up/go to bed the same time, take a shower and leave the house every day. If you have a laptop make finding a job your job, get up, shower and spend 3hrs max actively looking for work, don’t apply to everything make it targeted and lean on any professional networks. I recommend the public library for this, there is usually one close and you don’t have to buy anything to sit there and use the free wifi. Sunlight, get outside every day. Shower and leave the house every day, keep a 5day week schedule, don’t “work” on the weekends, keep that time for you and keep a routine. It’s hard to stay optimistic as you watch your bank account drain, I won’t say it always works out but cause that’s insulting, it doesn’t, but it can try to stay optimistic, be proactive, and I can not emphasize this enough, keep a routine and go outside everyday rain or shine especially if you live alone. My first real unemployment stretch I got a motorcycle license, the class is run out of the local community college and they proved bikes and helmets, second one I finished the last 9 credits and got my degree, 3rd I got a drone license. It’s hard to see but if there are things you have always wanted to do, especially free things ( again the public library for free museums, zoos, and things like 3d printers or metal detectors) see if you can check a few things off your list. Good luck, the mental part can be the hardest.
Almost a year back in 2008 right after starting my career. First time I ever felt suicidal tbh. My company just did a bunch of layoffs yesterday and have had a pit in my stomach since.
Yes for about a year in a recession mumble mumble years ago when I was about 21. Got made redundant, got a new job, got made redundant again less than a year later. I felt like 💩 I lived with my parents, but they still wanted their “keep” from my giro (see I’m that old), plus I had car insurance and some catalogues I was paying off, credit card and an overdraft. Just couldn’t get anything! It’s really miserable being skint.
Finally got a Christmas job in a bookshop, so had to arrange with the bank to not swallowall my wages on the overdraft. After that, nothing again, no jobs! Few months later I’d had my driving licence for 3 years, so I got a cab licence and drove my dad’s cab when he wasn’t using it. He was skint also, so paid me hourly just under the limit to pay tax and national insurance. So worked 6 1/2 days a week to pay off my debts and have some money for myself finally. Got married and had a baby, my dad was by then doing better so he bought a car for me to use after maternity leave and I was able to keep what I earned, just pay him rent.
Times can be tough, it taught me not to run up debt, to save for what I want and work hard. I did have another office job later, but got made redundant 3 years later, changed jobs, got made redundant AGAIN 3 months later, and just fk this 💩 went back to (a different) self employment. I just don’t trust other people.
Longest time in a calendar year was 6 months but it was split 4 months, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks. It was fucking awesome. I get subpay at 70% of my base pay, and it was before corporate “inflation” really took off. It was basically a 6 month vacation, and after working 6 days a week for years on end, it was much appreciated.
Comments
Really horrible
Yes currently going through it rn and it’s very boring, and you are broke obviously lmao, and it’s very horrible
Like shit
For close to a year. Being broke really sucks. You just wallow in misery. At least a job is a distraction.
It feels pathetic, and what’s worse it nobody even asks about it
Yes, off long term sick for just over five years. I didn’t feel much about it but sadly I did get judged a few times by people I knew. How’s work going was an awkward question from family.
Useless bored and hopeless
Yes as a recent college grad, I’m rethinking why I did it.
Not worked for nearly 7 years (I don’t need too) and I love it! I’ll never understand folk who say they’d get bored.
Probably like a faithful servant
Yes, right now. It sucks. For me it’s like I’m worthless. It’s even wider realizing no one cares.
Felt useless and angry. Hope we all find a purpose <3
I’m currently unemployed following my Boxing Career ( Currently no pay) I Uber eats on my motorcycle during rush hours here and there at an attempt to pay my bills. I’m fucking broke but never felt better.
It was terrible, didnt miss the job tho only the pay
A couple years. Rough at first but I got used to it. Kicking the routine of the weekly work schedule was weird. I really started to notice how I was trained to be controlled and manipulated in school as a kid to basically boot lick bosses and managers. It’s disgusting. Now I’m self employed and do just enough work to pay bills.
I graduated from university into a recession, and stayed unemployed for seven or eight years (with some volunteer work, freelancing, and part-time limited hours jobs scattered throughout.) I felt bad enough that no-one wanted to employ me, but the people I dealt with while claiming unemployment benefits just made it infinitely worse. I was disabled, a young graduate, doing everything I could, and they still resented my existence. It’s shit, it really is. Keep your chin up.
for 9 months. my mental health was at an all time low and i was hungry a lot :/
I usually go about 2-3 months when I find myself out of work. And it’s been several times. 2006. 2017. 2024. 2-3 months each time.
In January 2024, I placed an ad on my local subreddit. Any work. Anything to do. Any pay. Something that I could do with the assumption that I’d not be there long. I wound up being a carpenters apprentice for 2 plus months. Then landed a job in my field again.
It was the best experience that I have had in a decade or more.
I come to terms with that now
Yes and it’s both the best and the worst. I have a degree with almost a decade of experience when covid and post covid hit. I basically just sold everything I owned, moved into my car, and door dashed for 2 years. It was survivable, I felt the most freedom I ever had in my life with time and mental health, but I was also the most vulnerable Ive ever been financially and comfortably. I sacrificed a lot to do this and it gave me time to reflect on what I really wanted, who I really am as a person, and what I should do about it. It’s quite stimulating to find yourself voluntarily at rock bottom. You see all of your options clearly and you can build a life plan from scratch. But you also see your old friends and family, and how they’re doing and notice that you’re very far behind them socio-economically.
I recommend it, but it’s very dangerous if you stay in this position for a long time.
I spent the first 33 years of my life with background anxiety, existential dread, and listless goals. I spent 2 years homeless with minimal daily responsibilities and goals, and left my homeless life to return to where I was in a better place. I haven’t had any anxiety attacks, toxic thoughts, or self sabotaging choices in years.
Obviously I didn’t have a wife, girlfriend, kids, or anything else. So I was able to be as selfish as I possibly wanted during this time.
Everyone goes through their own enlightenment journey in different ways. Mine just happened to be based on living like a nomad.
Being broke sucks. Worrying about your bills. However, i enjoy doing nothing.
i’m coming up on a year. i had a bad series of events (the company i was working for got sold, i got sick enough i almost died & pulled my retirement to live off of). i’m glad i’m not dead but it still doesn’t feel good to not work this long.
I was freelance for 11 years. It was brutal. Then I got full time employed for a year. It was great. Got laid off two weeks ago due to tariffs. Back to being unemployed.
It’s not a good feeling by any measure.
There’s always some way to make money. Just understand that your job is not you and does not define your worth. That’s the rat race exerting its control over you.
Several Times. I feel good.
After I was laid off I was unemployed for 2 weeks and it felt like an eternity because I was so so broke.
I was off work for medical reasons for 6 weeks recently but still being paid. It was a DREAM. I didn’t want to go back.
I got fired during the pandemic and was not actually employed for a year and a half but still made money. I did gig work and contract work for that year and a half and I felt SO good. Never been so happy to be unemployed before. It was liberating and I felt so free but it was also unstable, unpredictable, and unsustainable. I had no honor or pride. I had no niche and got by on networking, willingness, desperation and luck alone. I felt amazing but begrudgingly I had to re-enter the work force because “savings, retirement, healthcare, society, fear blah blah blah”. Oh but I still lack honor and pride. LoL
Well, I got evicted from an apartment, couldn’t find housing. Became really difficult to become presentable and lost my job. I stayed homeless and (with the exception of a few short temp jobs) jobless for years.
It’s a cycle, you feel useless and unproductive and the longer you go that way the harder it becomes to become useful and productive again.
The cycle broke when an old friend offered me a job and a spot to shower regularly. Now I live (with roommates) in a beautiful house, and work as much as I can
La dolce vita !! All the people say it’s bad don’t have hobbies or are boring
:slaps knee: welp, time to call it a night from these comment
Helpless and without stability. I don’t think people understand that being able to work is a privilege. It certainly sucks when you can’t work but are told to figure something out.
lolwut
Not fun. Your brain makes you start believing in the worst. Self-worth and value drops to negative. And nobody can help you
Great. I just took 1.5 years off work. I got unemployment benefits and have a lot of savings from my career. Next month I’m starting a new job. Really looking forward to it but also enjoyed my time off.
In 2017 I did something similar and took 5 months off. Went travelling around Southeast Asia for 2 months.
I was laid off from my job in May 2021 my Soulmate/Husband passed that same year a month before on April 21,2021. It was a horrible year for me I stayed out of work the rest of 2021, but luckily I had my family & friends to help me pull through. Ironically I was recently laid off AGAIN on March 27,2025; but I have acquired another job.
I actually loved it. Theres so many ways to make money out here that you don’t need a full time role to do so. I like to save majority of my money by working really hard for a few months, then living unemployed for other months. 100% worth it. It also helps that I don’t spend money the typical way that people do so it stretches for quite a while.
Yes. Miserable. It underscores every depressive tendency till you sink to the bottom of a deep well.
For 16 years, it was pretty good but I had to go to school which sucked, I think kindergarten was prob the easiest year
For over a year, thankfully I had freelance to fall back to but it was one of the worst times of my life, comparable to the loss of my father to cancer. It is underestimated how much we tie our self worth with work in our society – being unemployed feels like being invisible, worthless and like you don’t belong
Was fun the first few months when I had my savings to help pay the bills and out food on the table. Was less fun in the later months when said savings was starting to run out
The first few weeks are hopeful. Then it starts to drag. Then every bit of unemployment and every $100 you had stashed away runs out.
Then you really start to get depressed, and wish that the jobs you applied to would just say no instead of ghosting you
Then when you finally do get a job, as soon as the elation wears off, you almost immediately get sick as a result of being around new people and new germs.
0/10 would not recommend
Best time of my life. Played pickleball every, day felt like the retirees that play there at 8am and noon. Was unemployed for 4 months.
Miserable. Getting another job made me more miserable and is seriously damaging my health but whatever right? lol
I’m pushing 8m but I’m ok. I’m fortuante
Absolutely horrible. Your self esteem plummet.
Being concerned/scared about money is SO stressful, and your life is just so restricted
best years of my life, doing a reprise now soon
i have been for over a year now. 7 months ago i finally got diagnosed and medicated for adhd and i started to like being alive again. unfortunately, it lead me to realise i was being abused at home and i had to find alternative arrangements, which was really hard. 3 months later i’m finally feeling safe for the first time in my whole life
all of my energy was spent surviving and i couldn’t even think of working, but i was still miserable having nothing to do and it made it worse. guess it means i’m finally healing – i have 2 interviews this friday 🙂
I was mostly unemployed for about 10 months. Left a profession. Could not find replacement work. Did some substitute teaching. Applied to dozens of jobs and heard nothing. It was the lowest point of my life. Eventually I was in such need of cash I started washing dishes, which I did for about two years before getting back into my field.
Yes, for 6 years. I went back to school (at 28), got my undergrad, got married and started a family all in that time. I was laid off during the last big recession and couldn’t find a job after 6 months of looking. That’s why I went back to school instead. It sucked being an older broke college student, but I’m glad I did it and it got me into the successful career I’m in now. All in all, it’s not about the obstacle itself (not having a job), it’s how you navigate it.
Been five years now but I’m crippled so I can’t work. It’s stressful to say the least and hunger lingers but you learn to appreciate things more I suppose. If I find .25 cents on the ground I’d be happy.
Got laid off and spent 3 months enjoying the joblessness. Starting applying and practicing my technical skills after that but it was a major downturn in the job market for my industry and I struggled to find a job for the next 8 months. Those 8 months were seriously tough for me mentally, though financially I had a nice chunk of savings to tide me through. It still hurt me financially to burn through so much of it and even now I feel many steps behind my original pace in my financial security. Buying a house will certainly not happen for a while longer :/
Five years. It sucked. Living off monthly government cheques while applying to jobs left and right but never getting anything.
I feel good, but that might have to do with the fact that I get a little government assistance. I just wish I had more money to enjoy the luxuries, but I feel good actually.
Entirety of 2010. It was rough. I was single with no kids so I got by on the extended unemployment benefits, but it didn’t feel great. Been working consistently since then, however. Almost 8 years with current company(In a union trade and get hired out of the hall). So as down as it got me in 2010, things definitely got better. We’ll see where this economy is heading, married with kids now, unemployment won’t cut it long term this time.
I was unemployed the first 16 years of my life lol
Oh Thanks ! I am disabled and try working all of the time never seems to work since every Friday like clockwork I have a seizures. So I’m in my 30s and want to at least have a part time job but even then I’m still struggling with my health.
8 months while my wife was pregnant with our 4th kid. 2008 sucked.
5 months. I had just gotten married. My wife was pregnant. It was awful, we ended up moving out of state and in with one of her family members for like 6 months. It all worked out, but man, but that was a ROUGH year.
I work seasonal and take 8 months off. It’s amazing to actually have time (and energy) to see friends and family, have hobbies, sleep and rest
10 months but I had a decent separation package. I was also picking up side work. But my kids were younger and it weighed heavily on me. There were times when I’d be driving —look in the mirror—and say to myself, “I don’t have a job”.
Have a job that I could make peoples full salaries in 6 months pretty easily. Is pretty common to get laid off for a couple months in the year when you start.
Absolute best months of my life.
Dead inside
I was unemployed from March 2020 to about January 2022. Longest period of unemployment (and not actively in college or anything at the same time.) I loved it. Got a little restless but I found lots to do. I love being home and free to do what I want.
I’m immuno-compromised and after being laid off right before Covid shutdowns in USA my doc advised I lay low until a vaccine came along. So it was a nice long vacation lol.
I had to quit my job to take care of my terminally ill wife. Huge dent in the resume and trying to get back on my feet.
Yeah for almost 2 years, it was horrible, so depressing.
4 years. i’m 30. pretty incompetent and worried
Retired
It’s awesome til the money runs out, then you realize how having fun isn’t always cheap and you need to do something to facilitate having the lifestyle you want
I’ve never dug myself into a hole of debt, but I certainly blew through a good chunk of savings
Currently unemployed for 20 months now. Living off my savings and I have about another 9 months or so before I have to start working off my reitrement (assuming there is anything left to pull considering the current administrations speedrunning economic death spiral) and try to keep my home.
I look, apply, hear nothing back or are told you are either overqualified, underqualified, not good enough, or are radioactive because you have been unemployed for so long (and working wherever I can find may give me some money, but it usually isn’t enough to live off of, but yet too much so that I lose benefits like medicaid or food stamps.
Some days I feel hopeful when I find something that would be a perfect fit, and others I feel like I want to just pack it all in, and game over it (but I love my nephews and neices too much to follow through.)
I am pissed because I worked my ass off for 30 years to get to this point, had excellent employee evaluations and a great reputation, and I am sure made some people/corporations wealthy and yet…through no fault of my own, I am at risk of losing everything.
TL/DR: not good.
I’m disabled. I went from a workaholic to not being able to take care of myself. Social worker told me to apply for benefits last week. I have never felt more useless or depressed in my life.
It was the most miserable experience. Way back in the mid-2000s, there was a jobless recovery and so people with 10-15 years of experience were applying for lower-level jobs. People with 2-5 years experience were being crowded out. I was unemployed for close to a year.
I felt useless. I felt like I was outside of society. It was the most awful moment I’ve ever experienced.
Currently have been unemployed since September, at first I was fine and I decided to take a couple months off….then it turned in needing to work on some crap in my head now it’s just depression that I’m trying to get through.
My wife was laid off in a really ugly way in November 2023. I knew it was the beginning of a downturn in Canada, and figured she might be out of work for maybe 6-8 months given the labour market was so gross.
It’s been 18. She’s felt incredibly dejected. I support her when I can, but I know at times it’s
In one year out the other.
Imma break the pattern of puritan work ethic on display in this thread and admit that it was the most personally productive time of my life. Being broke and lonely made it impossible to prolong, but I have never finished so many projects in such a short period of time before or since. Being self motivated helps.
Reintegration into “productive society” requires some major capacity for cognitive dissonance that everyone else seems well accustomed to, however.
Yeah back in 2010-2011. One of the worst years of my life. Luckily I had family to stay with, but having no money basically means you have no choice but to stay home all day and look for work. I’d get a weekly ride to the library and take out a bunch of books for something to pass the time. No one was hiring in my area.
This is before the whole Uber/Doordash thing, so obviously those couldn’t be a source of income.
Two years unemployed after my industry collapsed. Felt like a ghost-invisible to the world, screaming into resumes. Then I freelanced for peanuts, rebuilt piece by piece. Now? Grateful for the grit it forced into me. Survival teaches what success never can.
I’ve done both standard employment and freelance. Personally I prefer freelance. I deal with stress well. It’s not always fun living paycheck to paycheck and constantly hunting clients and gigs, but it can be rewarding and in many ways I feel far more in control of my life and time.
Almost a year. At first it was nice. My job closed so I got money the first few months because it was their fault (idk how to explain better). So the summer (I was let of in May) was a blast. Money for doing nothing AND being free the whole summer?? NICE. But then everyone I knew returned to their jobs or studies around September and I was just so bored. Then I felt bad, like I didn’t contribute to society. I applied for jobs but didn’t get any because I hadn’t gone to uni. The date for applying to uni had passed as well so I had to wait like 4 months to apply to next semester. I just felt unaccomplished and like a freeloader.
2011-2013 came so close commiting suicide. Not being able to support myself, and having friends constantly bailing me out with money. Sucks.
My brother is currently unemployed and he’s miserable. He’s so desperate for work. Breaks my heart.
I was unemployed from 2010 – 2015, and it left me severely depressed. It’s utterly demoralising and really stunted my personal development. Heck, even when I finally found work, I was a freelancer until 2022.
People always say “comparison is the thief of joy” as if that magically solves everything, but it really does suck to see all of your peers get their own places, settle down and start families etc, while I’m in my 30s and still living in the family home.
Shit sucked. I quit a job bc the hours were just too much, not having anything else to go to. Shortly after that I broke my right fibula skateboarding and didn’t have a job until about 2 months ago. This all started around June last year.
Twice. One company closed and the other company was bought out just before Covid and my position eliminated. Both times off work for a couple of years.
I had plenty of savings so we were fine. My wife still worked so we had insurance.
I spent a lot of time with my kids, volunteering at school, coaching sports. It was a good time.
It depends on whether it’s your choice (gap year,having savings,travelling) or not your choice (cant find a job,broke). The first feels pretty amazing,yes it can boring but it feels like this is what life was all about if you take use of it and don’t just lie on your bed 24/7. The second I imagine feels debilitating and my stomach drops just thinking about it. Especially people with no support like family and friends, its crazy to be anxious about your next meal.
In the last 4 years I have been unemployed twice. Once after a move and while finishing school, and once after getting let go during a round of layoffs. Both periods of unemployment lasted longer than six months, and were extremely stressful.
I applied for unemployment insurance, and my family helped to support me, but that long without an income was so terrifying to me. I applied to 5-15 jobs on average every single day, and it still took me 6 months to find work. And that happened twice.
I now strive to be the single best person on my team to avoid any possible reason for a layoff, and I still get worried about unforeseen layoffs or cuts to my industry (thanks Trump and DOGE)
I lost a lot of weight which was nice because I was starving. I learned you really don’t need much food to get by, just basic stuff. Not good for you though. It’s funny you stop craving things when you’re absolutely broke, you just need sustenance. Thanks to friends I kept the roof over my head but only just. I present well, probably no one knew just how close I was to homeless.
About a year last year. It’s depressing. You find ways to keep yourself busy, cleaning, organizing, etc. Watching your bank account slowly dwindle not know if you’ll have enough next month.
0/10 would not recommend
Kind of. I was a stay at home mom for 12 years. I was definitely working, and I adore my kids, but it’s an intense kind of lonely, and I was depressed at times. I started working as a para a few years ago. I’m not exactly making bank, but I apparently have an intense passion for working with special needs kids. It’s been a game changer for me.
Hope that you are ok
I was unemployed for close to a year. I think after 10 months, I was able to get a new job. But it was terrible. you really start to feel it, and I’m not one for the hippy dippy ‘the universe gives you what you put out’ shit, but…. it’s hard to get hired, when you feel so depressed and down on yourself.
I’m in my mid 40s now, and other than that 1 stretch (back when I was like 25), I’ve never left a job without having another lined up. and when I switch jobs, my new bosses always say they loved my confidence in the job interview. and I realize that when I was unemployed, I had no confidence, and I probably just bombed every single job interview because I came off really sad.
I remember, specifically, going to one job interview during a blizzard. I had called to see if they could reschedule, because it was like a 40 minute drive. when they said no, I made it there despite the weather. turns out I was the only one who made it in the weather, so I thought ‘fuck yeah! this is a sure thing!’ nope – they rescheduled everyone else’s (I had gotten the interview through a head hunter, who was equally made for me).
During this time, I was fortunate enough to be able to move back in with my parents. I had always gotten along with them well enough, but not this time. Even though this was like 2005ish, my dad stil though I was supposed to be walking around with a resume in my hand, and going into buildings and asking to talk to the bosses. At one point, I just got so depressed and hated being home, I went and got a job at a local movie theater. they hired me on the spot. My dad was so pissed at me (something along the lines of ‘you have a $200k college degree.. you’re not working nights for minimum wage!’)
it took me a very long time to find a job, as i finished uni, in a smal town in east europe. I would go to interviews and just promises or very little money. Finally I met a woman (she was dating a friend of mine) we were at lunch and she was getting ready to interview some workers. I asked if they needed an assistant. I worked there for 7 years, I loved those people and that place. I left after my son was diagnosed with autism. But thanks to the years there and experience I found a remote job, better pay. i did spend 4 years between these jobs.
The most ironic thing about being broke is the emotional stress makes you crave a drink, but you can’t even afford one.
I’ve been unemployed since 2019
Does covid count? I started working when i was 15 and never stopped until covid hit (was 21) at first it was fun, especially considering the gov relief benefit was more than i was making hourly…. Then it was less fun… and less fun…. I actually went out and tried to get jobs cause I was SO BORED. Accidentally winded up with 3 jobs at once
I just took 4 months off (middle to upper management for most of my adult life) and I legitimately realized the beauty of being happy and living within your means. I have an extensive resume in business but I am currently applying to jobs that make me happy! I took the jump and it’s beautiful.
Four months last year, best four months of the last 25 years of my life. No alarms, no commute, no forced socialization with people I don’t like. It was amazing.
I was blindsided with a moving box by a previous employee. I had a particular skill set that didn’t exist with my coworkers or the idiot who was supposed to replace me.
I was unemployed in 2008 and didn’t find a job for 11 months. My former boss even called me to come back and train my replacement! I politely declined with a nicely worded “fuck you.”
That former company folded 18 months later and my former boss was fired sooner. Our parent organization was clearly inept so I feel I dodged a bullet.
A few times, for 2-3 months. I felt so miserable and stressed about everything because literally everything costs money. So I had to live off of my savings for a car to get to work, so I could eat while I put out dozens of applications to get four responses and one interview. I found myself being very irritable and constantly arguing with my partner about everything costing money. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone who actually has to support themselves.
Lost a job during COVID. We had the unemployment stimulus and I got a good severance. It was still awful I feel for anyone in that position. Job searching is really rough when you can do it passively. When you must get a job you certainly compromise a lot more on that next job. I was single with no kids as well I really feel for people in that position.
I miss meeting new people & the rush of sparking a genuine connection with a stranger that you’ll never see again :c I don’t speak the language of my new home very well yet, so it’s incredibly hard to make friends
never in my life, longest is like 2 days
Bored as hell.
So relaxed and so anxious simultaneously
No, always had a new job before quitting the previous one
Years. After finishing school, life wasn’t as simple as finding a job at a nearby store. It was interview after interview, surviving until the next government handout, mentally deteriorating thinking how useless I was, thinking about dark things.
It took covid to arrive and to stop immigration for me to finally get a real full-time job. Life is better now, but the occasional memory of the dark times still pops up when I lay in bed before sleeping.
It feels horrible.
I was out of work for 6 months. 3 months was planned and even having a supportive partner who kept a roof over my head, it was stressful and depressing. We got a puppy and that’s why the 3 months off was planned. I worked for a high school so the summer months I knew I’d be out of work. What I didn’t know was that unemployment was going to refuse to pay me. Having my dog saved my sanity. It gave me a reason to get up early every day and training him became my full time job. I was also wrapping up my prerequisites for nursing school, so I had some structure to my life for the first 3 months.
Once summer was over, I was done with my prereqs and the bad weather set in, it was really hard. I was fighting unemployment to pay me, trying to find a job and trying to figure out how the hell I was going to pay for nursing school once I got accepted.
Having no job for 6 months really showed me how badly I need structure and purpose. I definitely need money too, but not feeling a sense of contribution is what really impacted my mental health.
It was one of the best times in my life. I had been working nonstop for years. Saved a lot of money while working. Everyone was acting like it was the end of the world with my layoff. I finally had time for me.
For 3 months once but I was a single dad of 5 kids so it was very hard. This was early 2000a when all those tough man contests in bars were going on. I went to every one for 3 months. First paid 250 to 500. Kids were the motivation. They never noticed a difference or knew I wasn’t working.
I was unemployed for a year and a half. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have my cousins letting me live with them. It was a literal life saver. I was a worsening alcoholic by the day at my last place (think 10-15 beers a night, go to work, hate everything there, come home, turn on halo, rinse repeat) with an abusive roommate and an inhumane manager. I had to get out of there. So when my cousins let me come stay with them? Man, I can’t tell you how grateful I am.
They just helped me get a new car, too! Well, new to me at least.
Bored
Broke but fantastic
Oh, absolutely, for nearly a year after tying the knot and fleeing to a new city, I was living the dream—best phase of my life, hands down. But then, shocker, sitting alone at home got old fast. So, I decided to rejoin the land of the living and started working again this January. Because, you know, boredom is the ultimate motivator..
The US is hustle culture based so there is a stigma with being unemployed. It can make you feel like shit. Anyone new you meet asks what you “do” and people who know your unemployed ask if you found a job and give very unhelpful suggestions (never tell a boomer you’re unemployed) The bad/good news is today (after Covid) most people either have experience with being laid off or know a lot of people who have and everyone is having trouble finding a new job/it’s taking longer to find work. That being said, the toll on your mental and physical heath is real. As a short term contractor who is literally always looking for work my tips in no particular order. Keep a routine, get up/go to bed the same time, take a shower and leave the house every day. If you have a laptop make finding a job your job, get up, shower and spend 3hrs max actively looking for work, don’t apply to everything make it targeted and lean on any professional networks. I recommend the public library for this, there is usually one close and you don’t have to buy anything to sit there and use the free wifi. Sunlight, get outside every day. Shower and leave the house every day, keep a 5day week schedule, don’t “work” on the weekends, keep that time for you and keep a routine. It’s hard to stay optimistic as you watch your bank account drain, I won’t say it always works out but cause that’s insulting, it doesn’t, but it can try to stay optimistic, be proactive, and I can not emphasize this enough, keep a routine and go outside everyday rain or shine especially if you live alone. My first real unemployment stretch I got a motorcycle license, the class is run out of the local community college and they proved bikes and helmets, second one I finished the last 9 credits and got my degree, 3rd I got a drone license. It’s hard to see but if there are things you have always wanted to do, especially free things ( again the public library for free museums, zoos, and things like 3d printers or metal detectors) see if you can check a few things off your list. Good luck, the mental part can be the hardest.
Almost a year back in 2008 right after starting my career. First time I ever felt suicidal tbh. My company just did a bunch of layoffs yesterday and have had a pit in my stomach since.
Yes for about a year in a recession mumble mumble years ago when I was about 21. Got made redundant, got a new job, got made redundant again less than a year later. I felt like 💩 I lived with my parents, but they still wanted their “keep” from my giro (see I’m that old), plus I had car insurance and some catalogues I was paying off, credit card and an overdraft. Just couldn’t get anything! It’s really miserable being skint.
Finally got a Christmas job in a bookshop, so had to arrange with the bank to not swallowall my wages on the overdraft. After that, nothing again, no jobs! Few months later I’d had my driving licence for 3 years, so I got a cab licence and drove my dad’s cab when he wasn’t using it. He was skint also, so paid me hourly just under the limit to pay tax and national insurance. So worked 6 1/2 days a week to pay off my debts and have some money for myself finally. Got married and had a baby, my dad was by then doing better so he bought a car for me to use after maternity leave and I was able to keep what I earned, just pay him rent.
Times can be tough, it taught me not to run up debt, to save for what I want and work hard. I did have another office job later, but got made redundant 3 years later, changed jobs, got made redundant AGAIN 3 months later, and just fk this 💩 went back to (a different) self employment. I just don’t trust other people.
What was the question? Got lost in reminiscing.😂😂
I got let go in December and I’ve been studying to skill up. I think working on my skills has helped me maintain a positive attitude.
2008 crash. Nine months maybe.
Was awesome. Collected unemployment and spent most of my time flying fishing and camping on rivers.
It changed my perspective about life and what the rat race really is.
It’s awful, de-humanizing. Living with abusive parents makes it even more difficult. I had to save every single coin or bill I have just to save up.
Longest time in a calendar year was 6 months but it was split 4 months, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks. It was fucking awesome. I get subpay at 70% of my base pay, and it was before corporate “inflation” really took off. It was basically a 6 month vacation, and after working 6 days a week for years on end, it was much appreciated.
Yes for nearly a decade, was too depressed to function and not having a job only made it worse, which in turn made it harder and harder to get a job.