hello kind stranger. i have dropped out of college 4 times since 2020, and soon is about to be my 5th time, and i am unemployed. i have lost many many friends from the moment i graduated highschool to last year, thanks to the type of mental illness i have. its been a difficult road, but i promise that it gets better. the despair can feel world-ending and final, which is okay. you may feel lost at times to the point where you wanna throw life itself behind and give up, which is also okay. one thing that helped me a lot is to learn to value your emotions whatever they are, you’re experiencing them for a reason. address each and every feeling, even if positive, ask yourself why you’re feeling that way? maybe record it in a journal for clarity’s sake. it might be worth it to look up “emotional validation/maturity.” work with your therapist to learn coping methods. and surround yourself with people who care about you. the thing abt your bf is a little concerning and to be honest if he won’t support you through this, personally i wouldn’t keep him my “boyfriend”. all in all, i wish you the very best. it gets unbearably difficult but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel, and i’m proof of that, since i’m alive, and if i had succumbed to the despair from years ago, i wouldn’t be here right now. :) take care of yourself. we don’t know each other but i love you. 🩷

I'm only 20, but I'm in a similar boat of being unemployed, not in school, and neurodivergent. I definitely get the feeling of despair, though I'm lucky enough that my parents prefer for me to work on my mental health rather than anything else.