Young Adults Lost in Existential Drift

“I just don't know what to do. I seem to have hit a slump in my life. Two months ago I was studying all day every day, I was going out with friends and I was...not very healthy, but I was doing something. Now? I can't. I can't do anything. I have an exam tomorrow that I've failed 5 times already. You'd think I would start studying sooner, but no. It's the day before and I've yet to revise anything. It's been two weeks since I came back from holiday with my family a”

“Im turning 22 in 5 days. I've always had mixed feelings about my birthdays since i was a kid, i never really had friends (and the ones i thought i did have didn't really like me all that much) but at least i always got to eat some cake with my family. Usually there'd be me, my sister, our parents, grandma, and aunt and uncle in attendance. But well now im just kind of alone. I know that my loneliness is very much my own fault, im agoraphobic, and my mental health is shit in general,”

“I'm 25, and have spent a lot of time in a mental health crisis, I only have completed O level exams. Have been surviving with my parents support and therapy and don't have much of any experience in any fields. I feel as if Im basically just starting life. I do have the resources and time to dedicate towards something I want to do. I have also been considering going back to school and towards an undergrad program. I do know what I am NOT interested in. I have tried some Cs courses, I was”

“I'm sure you've might have seen many posts like these but I would be grateful for literally any morsel of guidance you could offer. I am a 22M. The problem isn't that I don't know what I like - I do. I just have too many interests. Every option calls out to me like it's the one but I get scared I might regret the choice I make. As a result, I'm paralysed with confusion and unable to make a decision. As a child I wanted to become a pilot but I guess that was a phase since”

I’m trying to think that way.

“I think I have ruined my life. Although I am a big procrastinator, I have a big dream.. I wonder if it even makes sense any sense. My dream was to become a professor of Literature. I was a teacher who had been teaching for 6 years. But everything changed since I got into Ullens this May. I don’t want to put all the blames to the school, but, I reached my breaking point after I entered the place. I am someone who has been struggling with mental health from a long period of time. I used to go thro”

“I'm not sad or depressed or anything (at least I don't think so) I'm just so tired. It's like I look at all the effort it takes to live and I see where my life is heading and I just... Don't know if it's worth it to spend so much energy on something that just seems like a rotten deal. I'm 18. I have a disability that affects my legs and it'll most likely get worse with age. I can still walk but by the time I'm thirty I'll probably need a hip replacement. I”

“20 feels like the time to make or break your life and I'm definitely doing the latter. I spend so much of my time in a constant crash out that I've done nothing to build a life or future. I can't believe my "mental health" is occupying so much of my time, energy, and attention that I basically have nothing left in me to focus on school and career and adult life things. I feel like I'm using up everything, every last thing I have in me, only to function at a level that c”

“I am still in school, and I've been addicted to weed, dxm, and also alcohol but not as much for almost 2 years.I've lost all my friends, I used to have a lot. Recently I've come to terms with my addictions and have just accepted them. I have been able to make some friends back and keep somewhat of a social life, so I'm not completely fucked in that area. The problem is, I just don't really have a future anymore. I can go to higher education, get a job, but I know I will still”

“Im 15, and i just feel like i can never find my place in life, like I always am never happy where I am in life, like I can never find the right group of people, or anyone who could be there for me. I dont feel like doing anything to myself, but I just need to let this off my chest since school is coming up for me and I need to let it off somewhere that isnt there or home 😅🙏 submitted by /u/Slater9211 [link] [comments]”

“I feel like no matter how hard I try at something I'll always fail or be the last to figure something out. I have no skills No talents No "natural born gift" I feel weak, like I'll never achieve much in life. No matter how much I try to get better I'll always come back to this dark place. I am not making it past the age of 18. submitted by /u/RedwoodtreeMonk [link] [comments]”

“I wish I never gave college a chance. I wish I never gave the International Christian Church a chance. I wish I never gave anyone I met in college a chance. I just want a stupid job and I want to move on. submitted by /u/Sea_Visual_1691 [link] [comments]”

Here's how it starts: No fr im so stuck in life and I just turned 19 like 3 days ago plus job searching in my town sucks and dont forget my parents…

“I feel so lost at the moment, can’t get a job for 2 years, no good friendship group and nothing to keep me moving. It’s makes me feel so low and ashamed of how my life is. I want my life to start but I don’t what to do anymore. submitted by /u/VoidedAsh776 [link] [comments]”

“I'm 19f , for some years I have been feeling hopeless about my future because I don't feel like I'm succeeding academically. Also I don't feel like I have any other good qualities that can make me feel better about myself. I don't really have many people around me besides my family . There are these moments where I feel super motivated but making goals and working to achieve them . But those goals remain just figments of my imagination. I'm never able to bring myself to w”

“TW: SA My life has been a mess. I was a butter recluse in my teen years, I was the weird kid unable to connect with others and didnt know why. I chased a physics degree that didnt benefit me, I found out in my final semester I had autism and adhd. I worked a restaurant desperate to level up my social skills, I got fired for being terrible, I worked another, I made lots of friends, i was there for a few years, I got my heartbroken, I had to watch that woman happy with someone else. I got ostracis”

“I don’t even really know what I’m looking for by posting this. Maybe advice, maybe support, maybe just for someone to understand what I mean. I’m single, an only child, I work full time, and I’m also in a master’s program. I have a lot going on right now with school, student loans, money, trying to figure out my career, applying for jobs, etc. And lately I just feel so fucking alone in all of it. Today my mom called me and I literally stopped what I was doing to answer because I love her and I t”

“Idk why my life has turned out like this 17 for I have boards coming up in 4 months idk what I'm gonna do I'm in a place where I have nothing no one cares abt me everyone just acts like they do, uses me, betrays me dumps me ghosts me avoids me, all my frnds r living the time of their life and I just am surviving atp I can't be the daughter my parents r proud of I am not able to make them happy everyone is just mad at me everything that happens just asks me again and again what am I e”

“I will always feel like a loser who missed everything. No matter what, I have wasted my life. People will sense it, I will feel jealous and inferior for their experiences and I can't catch up. What is the point? I can't think of anything other than me being inferior for losing my 20s in a hellish relationship instead of having fun, figuring life out and just being me. It's too late. People say it's not but it is. Nothing gets through to me, all I hear makes it worse. All I can do”

“I know I shouldn't say that but i just wanna end it all, i just feel all alone and lost with no hope. I hate more and more that world we live in, i feel like a failure everyday i wake up, hearing my mom tell we struggle with money while i litteraly can't find a job make me hate myself so much. I live with a knut in my stomach, i feel like i'm going crazy because my brain can't stop overthinking, anxiety eat me away and it's been year like that. I tell myself i should do this”

“I will always feel like a loser who missed everything. No matter what, I have wasted my life. People will sense it, I will feel jealous and inferior for their experiences and I can't catch up. What is the point? I can't think of anything other than me being inferior for losing my 20s in a hellish relationship instead of having fun, figuring life out and just being me. It's too late. People say it's not but it is. Nothing gets through to me, all I hear makes it worse. All I can do”

submitted by /u/Used-Prune-8755 [link] [comments]

“I just feel like giving up on everything. I am a junior in college my grades are really good with a high gpa but I feel like my life is so meaningless and empty right now. I did not work at all during the summer even though I could have for an office jobs on campus but I decided to stay at home with my mother and spend time with her. I’m an only child and my mother urged that money is not the issue. I’m looking back and feel guilty for thinking I should have been out there making money to suppor”

“started community college YESTERDAY and I genuinely like the people I’ve talked to, but what the actual fuck I hate college. I hate class. I hate my course of study. I hate the feeling I get when I step foot in class. I don’t know where I’m going, and I don’t think I can take these classes because I DESPISE the environmen. not necessarily city college, but the rooms give me so much anxiety and the environment makes me get migraines and sitting down for more than 3 hours in the saddest fucking ro”

“Hello everyone. I am only 20 so I know this is not an immediate worry, but it’s becoming one for me. I feel like everyone around me knows what they are doing and where they are going, but i truly don’t know what i want to do with my life. Right now, I am a preschool teacher and i have been for 2 years. i am in the process of receiving my CDA (Child Development Associates) certification in hopes of getting a little bit of a higher pay. I love working with children, but i know this is definitely s”

“I enjoy some things about my life, but for the most part I’m just miserable. I hate myself, I’m scared of the future and I don’t want the burden of responsibility that just naturally comes with life. Having to work or do at least something to survive, the expectation to someday find a job that is actually fulfilling and the societal norm to just settle down as a happy family someday, all these things just stress me out. I know it might sound stupid and people might think “well, that’s just how t”

“Sorry, for a long post. I don't really know how to write this or what I expect from posting it. I think I just need to get it out somewhere. I'm 24M and lately I'm just getting really tired of everything. It feels like there's always some kind of pressure or some shit going on and I honestly don't know how to make things better anymore. I'm a pretty shy and quiet person and I HATE bothering other people with my problems. So usually I just don't say anything. I don&#39”

“21M Looking for a mentor I’m 21M, and lately I’ve been feeling like I’m watching my life pass by without actually doing anything with it. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and when I look back, I don’t have much to show for any of it. No real progress, no skill I’m proud of, no achievement that makes me feel like I’m moving somewhere. And honestly, I can’t even blame anyone else for it. I’m from Pakistan, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse either. The truth is, I’ve been lazy,”

“21M Looking for a mentor I’m 21M, and lately I’ve been feeling like I’m watching my life pass by without actually doing anything with it. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and when I look back, I don’t have much to show for any of it. No real progress, no skill I’m proud of, no achievement that makes me feel like I’m moving somewhere. And honestly, I can’t even blame anyone else for it. I’m from Pakistan, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse either. The truth is, I’ve been lazy,”

“ive done everything to better myself and my life and i have everythingis good now and i am still here right now like this. and i have no support, no reason to be like this, nothing to fix or alleviate it. ive reached out to friends so many times ive told numerous of them my sh/sui thoughts (4yrs clean) and none of them care. nobody cares. nobody has probably even noticed. i have to sit and take it all by myself all the time overand over again and i just cannot. submitted by /u/Odd_Sw”

“I’m a 23 year old Canadian woman with absolutely no skills (or so I feel like, anyways). I grew up in a bad situation and didn’t do well in school, especially with math. Now I’m 23 and I have no idea what to do. I’ve unfortunately had chronic pain for years and still trying to get a real diagnosis and I’m usually an artsy person but in this economy, anything art feels like a dead end. (Sorry if that’s considered a ‘sob story’, first time posting here and just trying to explain the situation 😅)”

“I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m tired of being in this world. What is the point of me growing up during this timee. An an 18 yr old trans man, it’s never gotten better for me. I’m so tired of being sad. I’m tired of being told I need to fight. I’ve been fighting my whole life. I’m so tired. But I just keep thinking about how sad my little brothers would be if they lost their older brother. I can’t do that to them. But god I can’t do this either. I’m so close. submitted by /u/max”

“I feel so out of place and unnecessary in my own life; wherever I go, I stand on the sidelines and feel out of my depth; my social circle is so limited that I don’t have a single acquaintance or friend in real life with whom I could pass the time, even with a completely pointless conversation; At every social gathering, I have to stoically endure my own awkward shifting from foot to foot, the inability to keep my hands and mind occupied, and other people’s conversations, which for some reason se”

“Hey everyone for the past year and a half I have felt so lost in life like I don’t know my purpose. It all started when I lived 6 hours from my hometown and was living with an ex of mine in Tijuana and working in San Diego. I was with her for roughly 2 years until she left me for her coworker who worked below our apartment. When she left me I didn’t feel much I hardly cried and continued with my life which is weird because usually i’d be a mess and would need the urge to be find affection in ano”

“Hey guys, sorry if this whole thing is messy, I just need some advice from people who are on the other side. I (NB19) started realizing that, though I don't see a future for myself, I need to start planning for it anyways. I'm trying to take life more seriously, focusing on getting a better job and trying to get college rolling, While also keeping up the things that actually make me feel joy (like drawing). I'm just wondering when it's supposed to feel Good. All this stuff just f”

“i wish i had someone to say this to i dont even know if i should be here but everyone around me in my life makes me feel like i cant ever be upset because im the one who's supposed to help everyone else and im just tired of pretending and im tired of fixing everyone's problems i wish i could help everyone but ive given everything i had to offer and i have nothing left anymore and i cant help but feel like no one would do the same for me i cant live inside my own body i cant handle any of”

“I just work, work, work. I've got no hobbies or interests. Life feels so bad. I see nothing good in it. I have no strength or ideas how to change it. I feel so socially isolated. I have no friends and never had any friends in my life. I want to end it all and have peace. I see no point in staying alive at all. There will be nothing good in my life. No reason to wait so long till I finally die submitted by /u/SurikName [link] [comments]”

“I'm isolated and detached from the world. I'm empty and tired. I've given too many parts of myself out, now I have nothing left. I physically cannot think of a reason to try anything, nothing in my life has worked out. I'm broken, no friends or emotional support. No notable career or achievements in my life. My family isn't the family I needed. There's literally nothing I can do, I don't know what to do. Why should I have to try to put in all this effort fixing myself”

“I feel like I’m stuck. I’m 19 and just graduated from high school, and the only real person I have in my life besides my family is my girlfriend, which I’m very thankful for, but I’ve given up so much to be with her. This past year, I’ve gone through many different trials. From losing friends to family drifting apart, many things have changed in my life. A year ago, I was a free-spirited 18-year-old kid who felt like he could take on the world and actually conquer it. Now, I feel like I’m just s”

“I am 17 years old and in 6 months im gonna turn 18. This year has been the worst for me and it never got better. I have been in contact with a psychiatrist, doctor, therapist, child** **and adolescent mental health services and social services. All that just to be suspected with MDD and GAD and they still haven’t diagnosed me because I’m “too” depressed. I haven’t gotten any good actual help and it’s mostly because of my parents. Both of my parents grew up in a environment where they didn’t beli”

“Since I graduated I have been welding and still have no desire to continue this path. I have no idea where to start or what to look for trying to find what I want to do with my life. It seems like nothing is interesting. No investments, 401k, HYSA. I need some outside advice. I cant join the military because of a spinal fracture. I work for my debt and bills with no goals in sight. Just going through the day to day motions. Any advice? submitted by /u/Ambitious-Steak9190 [link]”

“I feel I've no energy left in me while writing this. For years I did everything I should have done. I studied hard. Really hard. I couldn't make it to big uni or a billion dollar job but I felt ok thinking that I landed somewhere. Everyone however kept judging n comparing me on my salary. I've cut connections with every friend of mine. I couldn't do it with my family. I developed depression, anxiety n hypertension... Still continued to work... Ppl kept saying I am running from re”

“I couldn't make the army because I'm underweight and couldn't keep up with PT. I've been trying to enlist to escape homelessness. But I was just fooling myself. I'm very sad how my life turned out. I literally can't eat right now. And outside of a McDonald's for the wifi in the rain. My life was always a joke. A terrible start and finish. I wanted to go to college and be a social worker. And use my life to try and help people, but I'm the opposite of that now. You”

“I hate when someone asks me what I want to do in the future because I don't even have an answer for that. What future? I'll be dead before I hit 18. My life is already miserable, nothing interests me anymore. I want everything to end. I hate everything. Everything is starting piss me off. My family, my friends, well, some of them are nice. I don't have the energy to even talk to them. It's so tiring now. I want to block my friends and delete my socials. I want to restart everythi”

“Honestly i feel like I’m stuck. Its like i take one step forward and five back. I never went to college cause i was basically frozen in anxiety for years (pandemic didn’t help). I manage to get a (job related) certificate and a job, but because i don’t have a car my hours and therefore pay are limited. I feel like i spend most my days doing nothing but rotting in my parents home absolutely worthless. Granted, they are kind enough to house me, but I’ll overstay my welcome soon enough. Besides hav”

“I’m a M22, I live with my dad and stepmom and my younger siblings. I constantly feel like nothing I do amounts to anything. My father said I’m no help around here. Every mistake I make in this house gets exploded in my face which brings me down and i honestly don’t know how to feel. I plan on moving out soon but I’m worried that it won’t work out. I honestly don’t care if I live or die I’m just worried on how I die. submitted by /u/Square_Key_6051 [link] [comments]”

“I want to end it all. I’m so tired. All I think about is jumping off a building, drowning etc. my head hurts submitted by /u/ComprehensiveFun2764 [link] [comments]”

“Hello guys, I'm 37M, loser in life, still single, no money, wasting away time gaming, no friends, family hates me and my enemies harase me freely cause I'm corrupted in the head. No matter how much I try I cant stop lust from showing me things I dont want to see. Since I became depressed about this and avoided social contact. Now I stick out like a sore thumb to bullies. Ever since I got help to stop the harassment they have been using Trueman show type thing to fk with my head. Its gett”

“Im 17 and I have been dealing with this for a little bit. I have so much to say that I don’t even know how to start, or even how to make this all make sense. I’m going to try and explain a little about my life first before I go into detail. I have been doing online school for over a year because public school was taking a toll on my mental health. The whole time I haven’t done much to better my life. I quit my job 3 months ago and ever since then I’ve felt like a bum everyday. I have been stayin”

“M29, dying doesn't feel so bad anymore to me. It's the only truth to life. Rest is all fugazi. I am 29 years old, I am not satisfied with life. I have a family and a few friends. But I don't feel worthy of life. If you told me that I will d*e tomorrow, I wouldn't feel sad about it. Note - I do exercise and like to lift heavy a$$ weights in the gym. Tiring myself out numbs my brain and I like it. My diet is solid too. But my sleep is really bad. It has been that way for a long tim”

What did you envision for yourself?

“Like I’m here whining about my life when you guys are probably sick and tired about me complaing and like I know what to do do improve my life but I can never seem to get the ball rolling things always happen so it’s like why bother but I’m still going to try but it’s like I’ll fail anyways but might as well try to fail I guess idk submitted by /u/Little-Confusion-728 [link] [comments]”

“My opinion is that life is awful. submitted by /u/Little-Confusion-728 [link] [comments]”

“I'll try to keep it short ,if you really read it I'll appreciate all the suggestions. I'm writing it in a way you'll understand and kinda it'll be short.sorry for bad english I live in a country in Asia currently aged 17M will be 18 this November. So i belong to a religious family. During Covid we lost our factory business and everything,loan debt increased my dad and my grandpa sold the house under pressure. Without my mom knowing it they already planned to sell it,then we s”

“I go to sleep living life with my mom in my dreams. I feel like I belong there in my sleep more than in real life. I’ll never get over mom’s death I’ve been trying to feel better for 18 months now…. The problem is I felt like I kept turning down her complains about her health. I’m not sure she told me she felt sick. She didn’t take her illness seriously. So I didn’t know. Now I sleep more than I do anything at all. submitted by /u/Sure-Sea-9272 [link] [comments]”

“i cant see myself doing this for much longer. i am so empty and can’t take pleasure or fulfillment in life, even when i’m happy or have achieved goals. i’ve been depressed and anhedonic for so long and so much has happened to me that i just don’t think i can get better anymore. years of therapy and meds have done nothing. i hate my life and i don’t see another answer. submitted by /u/w0efulwistera [link] [comments]”

“There's literally nothing good or positive in my life, I have no friends, my family doesn't care about me, when ever I try to do something positive in my life, bad things happens, I fell like i'm cursed. submitted by /u/FutureTransition4473 [link] [comments]”

“I’m eighteen and haven’t been to any type of doctor in over eight years and have been raised completely isolated and forced to move houses early every other year and it’s getting to a point where I don’t think I can handle it anymore submitted by /u/Due_Event4075 [link] [comments]”

“I missed everything and ruined my life. My future is ruined because I am stuck on my PhD. I lived in my own hell my whole life. Not having had friends, having been stuck in one miserable relationship makes my life worthless and as little as others understand, there is just fundamentally missing in my development. I just switched to an SSRI a week ago after wasting half a year on some other type of meds and feel miserable. It feels like it's all over. I don't even know if it's worse n”