Hi Jazzhands 805,

Your twenties, you’re doing them right.

If you want, please elaborate on what you think is the underlying cause of this anxiety and depression you are feeling, we’re all here to listen. In the meantime I have some advice:

Hear me out on this: your early twenties are not actually the best time of your life-that comes a little bit later when you’re close to your thirties after you have a few more things figured out. But life only gets better if you push through hard times like this and learn from your pain. And this pain is totally normal, everyone experiences it when they get out into life to find that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. But the difference is not many people learn from it. I believe by reaching out to this forum, you are willing to own your situation and change direction now to make your future better

When I was 22 I went through exactly the same thing and then I heard this: your life is like a boat on the ocean, it goes wherever you head it. And like a captain of a ship, if you make even tiny, tiny change in your heading now while you’re in the midst of the seemingly endless expanse of the ocean, your end destination will be radically altered.

So that means even though you feel like nothing is happening to make you feel better today, the choices you make can help you get to the destination you are seeking. Though the ocean may be rough, you’ve already made one great choice to go to counseling. Some other choices that will change your heading:

Simple steps to start out with (bear with me, they may seem silly but they helped me when I didn’t feel like I could get out of bed)
-Make sure you brush your teeth everyday
-Take a shower everyday
-Eat breakfast everyday (start with anything, even if it’s a donut, just get into the habit of eating in the morning)
-Drink lots of water
-Read a ton of books
-Find a supportive group on campus
-Wrap yourself up in fluffy pajamas and drink a ton of tea in the evenings, make sure you get enough sleep
-Keep going to therapy and tell the truth, the whole truth, never hide anything from your therapist because they can’t help you unless you tell them exactly what’s bothering you.

Some more advanced steps once you start to feel like your mood is evening out

-Focus on a sport or exercise
-Focus on your finances
-Attend meditation classes or yoga classes (perhaps your uni has free classes)
-Research internet resources (there are many on this site under the “home tab-helpful free resources” that can help you start to educate yourself about the root causes of anxiety and depression)
-Start working towards eating a healthy breakfast
-Start journaling or just writing anything
-Keep writing here, it’s a great place to vent

I’m just going to leave those there, it’s up to you to find what works best, these are just things that helped me. Just remember Self Care (the steps on the first list are basic Self Care steps that are easily eschewed during times of depression) is super important in this time and you deserve to do it for yourself!

Cheers,

M