I’ve just finished my A levels and got out of further education. I’ve never considered myself to be a depressed person and thought I’m fairly headstrong until recently. I’ve realised I have become depressed.

I’m currently attending an academy far away from where I’m living that requires me to travel an hour a day to an apprenticeship, 8 hours a day for little pay as the travelling costs are large. I haven’t really made any new friends there and I feel as if I’m loosing touch with my friends where I live. A lot of people have gone onto university to carry on with education which I wish I done. I just can’t seem to make a connection with anyone at the moment, even the people I can talk to properly. I don’t seem to talk to any girls at the moment and don’t have any sort of relationship status on the cards, and haven’t for ages now. I have very very little self esteem, which at the moment makes it hard for me to get to know any new people, where as my friends have bags of self confidence. Got a massive lack of motivation as well, which makes it hard for me to really do anything which is half the problem. Life is supposed to be exciting when your young but at the moment, it just seems boring and depressing.

Just needed to get if off my chest really, anyone else felt this isolated and stuck in routine?

Hello Xx I have spoken to a couple of teenagers who have felt the same way ...I felt a little lost when I first started out…I remember us all going around on motorbikes watching movies eating chips and getting drunk on cider and trying to act sober in front of my mum and dad. I had soooooooooo many laughs and sooooooooooo many friends then my mum and dad split and I had moved to Portsmouth. My dad moved his girlfriend in and I came home one day and they said you’ve moved…!! I ran to my room and it was empty. They took me to the room in Portsmouth they had rented for me in a house full of sheiks Xx I was in perfect shock and didn’t know how to catch the bus to work the following day. I was in my teens. The people I lived with were great they were mostly pharmacy students and fed me the most delicious curries and great to be around yet I was very very lost. My parents saw it as moving on, growing up I was in absolute shock. It is all the change and its like the first day at school all over again and making new friends. I have to say this now It made me stronger, I eventually had my sister join me and I had 4 jobs to look after us both. I am proud of my life now. I became a dockyard chemist and eventually worked at diving research and drove a decompression chamber for diving accidents and oxygen therapy. I talk to my friend the other night its sort of character building stuff and made us stronger. She’s a fire fighter Xx Its part of the turtles running up the beach and it feels so odd different and scarie yet when you reach the sea you’ll be swimming. When I had to travel alot I learnt Spanish, it was a bit embarrassing when I spoke out loud accidentally so not the greatest idea :( Xx You are going to feel different Xx hugXx its the life changes ....I had a friend who told me take one day at a time and I endeavour to seize the day enjoy the moment see the funny side in all around me and smile. Or you have a choice which is what I did and completely change my direction and focus. My friend always said to me I have a choice, I choose to be unhappy. One time I moaned about the shopping and he said ‘then don’t shop’. I thought it was blunt then I thought about it, I have a choice its my choice to shop get on with it and stop complaining. I have so much to smile about why moan about a bit of shopping. Its my life my choices my decisions my loss my gain my pain my happiness Xx In my heart I believe you are going through some changes that are making you uncomfortable at the moment and sometimes for me thats a truth hood that something is not working or its just not right. Or I am looking in the wrong places with the wrong frame of mind. I now see the other friends that are alot like me and I poor my love and energy into the people who care about me most. Oh dear have I rambled on Xx I wanna fix it again Xx I hope I changed your pereception I hope I made you see life in a different perspective and hope you realise that the way you are feeling is very very typical and not bad Xx Life is about to get lovelier it just needs time to prove it to you Xx I hope today is the day it feels easier Xx I hope Brencoot talks to you he is so wise and Jamie should know how you feel Xx they’ll come on soon Xx speak soon Xx Hug Xx I hope you can change your thoughts which change your feelings and know its all about change being different and success…I am reading a boook about actors and film stars at the moment boy they have it tough..I read rags to riches by shane richie that made me appreciate how lucky I am Xx I have Irish friends that have lived in Ireland thats really really tough, a friend whose father was an alcoholic and she and her mother and sister learnt to live on nothing… she is a managing director now Xx my guess I may be wrong, Its the horrid tough love of life your experiencing at the moment…it sucks .. Xx Chloe

I forgot to mention my friends husband has left his top whack job to do what you are doing and become an apprentice Xx he has a wife a family and he was so unhappy in his job with all the responsibilities he has gone back to college !!! he is 40 years old Xx he is really scared of what his future has in store yet he is doing the same as you Xx I also have academic friends who can’t come out of the womb of college life and they can’t be as brave as you Xx YOUR VERY BRAVE xX making these steps and you can only find greater better things for exploring and going off as a strong young man..success does follow ...it catches up with you and who knows you might over take your friends Xx you are investing in your future now as a young man and that takes you far…no pain no gain ...no challenge no triumph. Its your first steps into LIFE Xx your amazing amazing and your going somewhere ...not stuck in the cosie part of life anymore yet you’ll find new ways of succeeding and become stronger and stronger you’ll have a life be independant and become interesting Xx oh gosh hope I have helped Xx hug Xx

The start of young life
can be a scarie old thing
it can make you sick it can
make you sing

Like a turtle running up the
beach wondering if the waters
too far to reach
A load of crows pecking at your feet
Your not be beat
you run to the front of the queue
no more feeling blue

You have two choices that
all that it takes
make a success of it
or an awful mistake

Enjoy the moment and laugh
at the pain because without
all painfulness you would not feel
the gain

Life is really making a favour for
you teaching you lessons
that are making you blue
yet those lessons do teach you
to have fun to be true

your lifes just changing making
new friends
you did it at 6yrs you did it at 10
You going through that life process again
and again

You know you have friends here
come what may
You know you can share your
grief you know you can say
that lifes not that brilliant

then you’ll come on again
and say that you bounce back
again and again

I pray in my heart
I pray yes I do that’ll
you’ll come back on again
not feeling blue

because around every corner
theres new friends to be found
start looking upwards not at the ground
There are friends waiting for you
honest you’ll see because
life really is promising
a great destiny XXxxXx

I put some advice on I found from AOL I hope that helps Xx Chloe

What to do when your world falls apart
.By Maggie Richards, Sep 21, 2010
Filed under: Wellness

http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2010/09/21/what-to-do-when-your-world-falls-apart/?icid=main|uk-ws-bb|dl3|link4|http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2010/09/21/what-to-do-when-your-world-falls-apart/

Trust in the power of trust - LIFE IS ABOUT TO GET LOVELIER Xx
Try developing a sense of trust that all is well. It takes practice and perseverance. Be warned: your ego mind is going to put up a fight! It wants to see problems everywhere and keep you ‘small.’

I practice this and it really works

The late Napoleon Hill, an American expert in positive mental attitude, said that opportunity usually comes disguised as a setback. So dig a bit deeper and find the hidden opportunity.

Have a go at Maggie Richards Suggestions Xx

Copied from dave crisp life coach
Creativity Tip 39 – Creativity and Mental Toughness

Dave recently became accredited to deliver the Mental Toughness Assessment (MTQ48 - see the PD-Centre website for details) through the Association of Qualitative Research (AQR). The Mental Toughness Assessment can also be thought of as a measure of how well we can retain our creative abilities through times of stress.

Throughout our lives we face change and challenges. Nothing stays the same; the good times don’t last and neither do the bad. People and places come and go. The world changes and so does our place within it and there is some stress - pretty well all the time.

To ride the changes: we need to refocus on our objectives and be flexible and adaptable in attaining them - which means being creative - we may have to modify who we are and how we are, in order to face the new realities.

The Mental Toughness Assessment gives a measure of how we are set up to deal with these challenges and the changes we make over time. So, what are the key measures of mental toughness?

The MTQ48 Assessment gives an overall measure of mental toughness, using these four key areas:

Control - To what extent we feel we can shape what is happening
Challenge - How we respond to challenge and change
Commitment - The ability to deliver even when the going gets tough
Confidence - Self belief and interpersonal confidence to deal with setbacks.

The reports generated can be applied to a range of uses including recruitment or selection assessments, coaching and staff development programmes, with detailed feedback to the participating individual, the interviewer or the senior manager. Results for mental toughness can be life changing for the individual as well as crucial in helping organisations transform, develop and improve.

There are lots of things we can do to improve our own mental toughness: some easy ones are time management, monitoring ‘self-talk’ and not trying to control the uncontrollable.

According to AQR: “Mental Toughness is the quality which determines, in some part, how people deal with challenge, stressors and pressure, irrespective of prevailing circumstances.” It has been proven that people who are mentally tough deal well with challenges while others crumble.

Examples of mental toughness include:

the ability to get up from life’s knocks and bounce back again stronger
the ability to cope, adapt and thrive during change and adversity
having the courage to face fears and overcome them
having the strength of mind to persevere against setbacks
having a resolute spirit and an indomitable attitude.

In stressful situations there is undeniable evidence that shows a link between the degree of mental toughness in an individual and the quantity of work achieved, the quality of work and the well being of individuals.

As well as strong connections between mental toughness and creativity, there are also links to issues like stress management, peak performance development and behaviour, and many leadership attributes.

Coaching focused on Mental Toughness issues can help individuals have:

belief in their ability to succeed
focus on the task, despite distractions
a retained confidence and focus despite being frustrated
the ability to push through until goals are achieved
the ability to bounce back quickly when things go wrong.