insufficient work credits because I was a full time student

I don't qualify supposedly due to insufficient work credits. I was a full time student for nearly 6 years and only worked during summer so no work credits. I was forced to stop my education in part due to Rheumatoid Arthritis ( didn't know what was wrong with me at that time) and have only been able to work less than a year of the last 5 years (left college 5 years ago). So in a nutshell I have almost no work credits. I am only 49 so I don't qualify for the other type of benefit either. Even if I were healthy for all the time I was in school it would have been very hard to amass the work credits needed to qualify. I feel that I will not get benefits because instead of working I chose to get an education to be a better productive member of society and my reward for having some ambition is no benefits, no career, and a body incapable of doing anything to support myself. I might as well just shoot myself now and skip the suffering, possibly homeless years ahead of me. Somebody tell me that I'm not screwed and there is still a way for me to qualify.