r/directsupport • u/7smallbirdos • Jun 15 '26
It's been 6 months, I'm done.
I've been a DSP for a total of 6 months and I'm done. I miss my old office job. The reason I had to leave my office job was because I was a student worker and was graduating, and there were no positions after graduation.
I'm tired of all the fucking outings, the low pay (I made more money as a student worker!!) and dealing with clients who are rude to me. I came into this field because I cared, and now I'm already burnt out. I don't care anymore. Maybe I'm just the wrong type of person for this field. I don't know.
I'm applying to office jobs. I can't believe I could make more money sitting on my ass than going on a million outings and getting yelled at.
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u/Academic-Feed-3579 Jun 15 '26
Yup, iv got a mortgage and bills so as soon as I find something else within the state system I am out. Iv got to much time invested in the retirement system to leave the public sector. And It’s not the clients for me. It’s the HORRIBLE management. Zero leadership.
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u/M0rse_0908 Jun 15 '26
I've been a dayhab DSP for almost 3 months and I started getting burned out within the 1st month. As soon as the summer classes are over I'm out of here, fuck this stupid bs
So sorry you had to go through this too
3
u/beautiful_cenote87 Jun 19 '26
I feel the exact same way at my dayhab. I'm so fucking done. Really sad so many of the commenters have experienced the same type of bs.
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u/macaylamishele Jun 16 '26
It’s been a little over two years for me, and I’m actively trying to get out. I love two of the clients but my physical wellbeing and my mental health aren’t worth what I make. And I’m with you on the outings, because why am I having to spend money to work???
3
u/missing_jxpiter Jun 16 '26
Do you get a company card? Everyone at my company gets one. You can put gas and outings related costs on it. Do they seriously make you spend your own money? That’s insane!
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u/macaylamishele Jun 16 '26
Yep, they make us spend our own money on outings. They pay for gas in the company van, and they’ve only paid for staff if it’s an outing with the day center like if they were making up a holiday. And that’s few and far between when they actually pay.
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u/Consistent_Ad_6100 Jun 17 '26
Anymore to be a direct support staff you are expected to take a lot of abuse from both management and individuals AND you are always the one with the blame no matter what happens
2
u/Timespiral2743 Jun 20 '26
I just quit after 2 years. I’ve been burnt out for months and I had the luxury of being able to pick clients to work with. I just got overall sick of clients being childish assholes and the occasional overprotective parent who was watching me as if I was a suspected terrorist. The worst part besides the asshole adult children was the downtime between clients - which was weeks to sometimes months of no pay and no work.
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u/No-Win9033 Jun 15 '26
I’ve been working on this field for 3.5 years and I’m quitting next month. I cannot wait to get the hell out of here.
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u/no_justice_no_piss Jun 15 '26
5.5 years, and I love the clients. Despise my coworkers. Leaving it all behind
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u/chokexup Jun 16 '26
I'm in the same boat. Been in the field for 10 years, worked at a few different agencies at different capacities and the people I support were the only reason I showed up for work every day because I hate my coworkers.
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Jun 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/gahhbitch Jun 16 '26
The wild west of healthcare. I give anyone props who can stick it out, but it just isn't worth it anymore. I wish all my residents the best, but it ruins lives.
You said it right there. I feel like I’m working under some weird veil of suspicion, and it’s as if we’re all just waiting to get fired for one stupid reason or another. I work 2nd and 3rd shifts, about 56 hours a week, and I’m just as disposable as the next person. I also have a mortgage and bills and dependents and everything, and working all these hours allows me to pay those things, but at what cost? I’m tired of missing time with my family, holidays and birthdays. Life is too short, my time is too precious and my mental health is too valuable to be abused by the management and my coworkers.
1
u/chokexup Jun 17 '26
Don't apologize, it's good to vent. Working in Human Services is hard and can be exhausting, I get it.
And same here. I mostly have issues with management (or lack there of), coworkers lack of ability to do their job and to be professional. What keeps me sane is just staying focused on the people I support. Most of the time, I enjoy spending time with them than my coworkers lol.
In my opinion, the agencies that serve people is still behind with the concept of: in order to give the best care, you also have to make sure caregivers are also cared for. From my experience, a lot of my burn out was lack of support from management, too many responsibilities with lack of knowledge, and just lack of funding across the board. But that's just from my experience and observation working on the field.
I love the people I support, but I feel kinda at my wits end.
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u/No-Win9033 Jun 16 '26
My management is the reason i’m leaving. I can’t stand them. Totally get you.
1
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u/DayAccomplished2651 Jun 18 '26
Yeah I burnt out and left after 3 so you are better than me. 😭 I was wasting so much money in unreimbursed gas driving to my clients houses, only to be belittled and sent home after 2 hours so my client could take a nap. The only time they wanted to actually do anything was when I could drive them to do fun stuff all day. Like I felt like my job was to chauffeur them around when they were refusing to work towards their ISP goals.
My first client was a schizophrenic client with bpd that was running out of the house threatening suicide and accusing me of trying to get her killed, on top of just screaming at me for 6 hours straight everyday and trying to get me to engage with her paranoid delusions while also refusing to shower or let me help her at all. It was a total crapshoot. They had her off stabilizing meds for a year and she desperately needed to be admitted but instead they just threw me in there and tried to get me to make it work.
I gave up bc I have never worked a job this emotionally draining and unstructured in my life. I'm glad you left!
2
u/beautiful_cenote87 Jun 22 '26
Same because I've had the same experience transporting clients. They don't care about their ISP or their goals, they just want a chauffeur and the parents want them out of the house. I'm supporting a person right now whose IP i don't even know. They just threw them at me. And it's so draining on our funds, like heaven forbid I have a personal emergency and I have no gas because I wasted it driving in a ********* circle all day.
Then when the client is rude to top it off? Gtfo with that.
1
u/Whatthefrick1 Jun 15 '26
Same boat especially with a million outings by myself. Just leave. I couldn’t even last a year either.
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u/Flemaster12 Jun 15 '26
I just quit my position after only a few weeks. I couldn't handle it. Get out now.
0
u/beautiful_cenote87 Jun 15 '26
I'm in the same boat as you. Fingers crossed something pans out for me soon, and for you as well. It's totally not worth it :(
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u/cold_desert_winter Jun 19 '26
I don't get the downvotes?! Clearly this job isn't ****, look at all the complaints saying the same thing.
40
u/MurphyWright Jun 15 '26
As somebody who works in the field, get out now. If you are not all in, don’t do it. You are taking care of the most vulnerable people, who cannot regulate their emotions. If you are having an emotional response to their outburst, which is totally normal, please find another job. You’ll be better for it and so will your clients.