Long COVID is on track to leave hundreds of thousands of Australians with disability and no disability support payments - a situation that Kerry Martin knows all-too well.
As reported by the ABC recently, despite immense health complications from long COVID, Jayson Cuming is ineligible for disability payments. As a result, it is causing him financial and emotional strain, where a small sum of disability payments would go a long way. A similar story arose this week from working sole-parent Megan Fraser.
These stories strike a chord with me. I am also not “disabled enough” to receive disability support payments, despite having ADHD, major depression, and anxiety.
In fact, I often hear people say how hard it is, either for them or their loved ones to get disability payments, despite serious and pressing conditions. With that, I often hear another mantra - that disability support is largely inaccessible when people need it the most.
My ordeal is obvious but no one suggested I apply for disability support payments, or gave me the option. Like a lot of others, my disabilities have been theorised out of existence so much that I have just given up.
Unlike stereotypes that prevail, my poor mental health is not self-inflicted. I haven't taken drugs or decided to be miserable. I wish the solution was as easy as that.
The irony is, I am extremely resilient, a hard worker, and often make people laugh. But transcendence comes at a price.
I can remember crying at work once. I hid my head like a scared child pretending to look down so people didn't see me. I had been crying for about three months solid. It was precipitated by some unpleasant events, which even overwhelmed me at work. In fact, I can recall many times being in workplaces and having to pretend I was okay.
The jobs I've had include a seven-year stint doing surveys; security - not for the faint hearted - telecommunications sales and call centre work.
It's not been easy, though.
At one particular workplace, due to my perceived mental health condition I was continually screamed at, called dumb, undermined by work colleagues and experienced a workplace vigilante. I was also being sexually harassed.
People with mental illnesses are often considered weak, and yet, I worked through these assaults and barriers - as I always have. I studied communications at university. I always wanted to be a writer ever since I was a teenager. But circumstances got in the way.
If I had been able to access disability support payments, I wouldn’t have been receiving them forever. I would have used the support to assist me until I was in a position to get more permanent work because - to smash another stereotype - I have a strong work ethic.
Only thanks to my husband am I finally able to pursue my love of writing, doing casual jobs on the side. Without him, I'm not sure where I'd be.
While I might be lucky, I slipped through the cracks and hung on for dear life, experiencing a rollercoaster ride. I sincerely hope that no one with disability has to endure the same.
As we face the rise of long COVID - and the debilitating symptoms it causes - we need to look again at the support we provide people who, due to ill-health or disability, can't access meaningful work.
Kerry Martin
Kerry is a freelance writer from Australia whose various guises include security guard, call centre operative and vineyard hand. You'll find her work in such publications as The Writers Weekly, Yoppvoice and The Phoenix Spirit. Kerry's diagnosis is a complex one of ADHD, major depression and anxiety.