i am turning 20 this year and i have never felt so much mental anguish and fear in my life before. I have researched it and apparently the early 20s is harsh because of the combination of figuring out your life way more independently than ever before and internal challenges (onset of schizophrenia, personality disorders etc.) I have never hated people more than I do now and I’m scaring myself sometimes.
Who has survived this period pelase tell me what to do I’m Scared
First off, don’t sweat it too much and be kind to yourself. Chances are that you will do a lot of stupid things that you will cringe at in 10 years. We were all clueless young adults who made all sort of stupid mistakes, it’s a normal part of the human experience and it doesn’t make you any lesser. Accept, learn and grow.
Secondly, realize you are not immortal. Your body has limits that will become more and more apparent as time passes. Be kind to it and don’t make your organs’ job much harder than it has to be, it will only come to bite you in the ass once you’re past your mid 20s and your fast regen gets disabled. I touch computers and I wish I took better care of my back, now I do physical therapy to fix the effects of my neglect
Related to that, dude weed/booze/hard drugs lmao isn’t a personality. I knew a lot of these types in my early 20s and you’ll probably run into them too. Every one of those things are perfectly fine in moderation but the negative consequences of abuse are absolutely real and you aren’t going to dodge them for too long. Be the boring party pooper who knows their limits and takes care of their body and you will thank yourself for it eventually. Practice harm reduction, educate yourself on anything you think about consuming, know the interactions, remember you can always take more but never less and just stay away from anything mind altering that’s not prescribed by a psychiatrist when you are in a rough spot with your mental health.
I think you mentioned before that you are neurodivergent. Find your people. Even a single person who understands how your brain is wired makes a huge difference. I have ADHD and it helps a lot to have one safe person I can vent to about ADHD things who won’t hit me with Have you tried WILLPOWER or say uninformed bullshit about the medication that greatly improved my life because DrUgS. People tend to carry a lot of unexamined ableism and it can get very exhausting when you have an invisble mental condition.
This was mentioned before but it’s extra important for anyone neurodivergent: learn to not give a shit about what people think and about socially enforced measures of success. It’s a skill you have to hone through practice but once you manage to stop the impulse to sacrifice your own mental health to please every asshole it’s extremely liberating.