I am depressed about my future, and 24 years old and living at home. Need advice!

[Mark_P]

Hi, well basically I am 24 years old (nearly) and I live at home with my dad, and I don't drive either. I used to go to college, but I finished my course and didn't feel University was for me. I have been inbetween jobs ever since, and I just can't seem to decide on a career path. I like different things, but nothing I can truly say "that's what I want a career in!".

I have been working with a family member for about a month now. He's a builder, and I basically help him out with general building duties. It's okay work, but It's just not the type of work I want to do. I am a building assistant at the age of 24, and this is what makes me feel down.

I just feel like I have no direct career path to follow, and It really sucks. I want to have a career, and I want to be proud to say "I do this as a job" whereas I feel embarrassed to tell people what work I do at my age.

I also live at home with my dad, and I eventually want to move out, but so far I've not had the stable income to do so. I also suffer from anxiety, and thinking about my life makes me feel worse about myself. Worrying about my future is making my health worse too.

My dad is going away for a week on Saturday, and he's expecting me to look after myself. I've never been on my own before for that amount of time, especially with anxiety. I fear that I will not be able to cope, but I need to! I don't want to ruin his plans by saying I can't do it. And it's not like I can get in my car and go for a drive, as I can't drive and don't have a car.

On top of all this, I live in a semi-rural village, and the bus is the only mode of transport out of here. If you don't have a car, you're buggered.

Anyway, if you can provide some advice, that would be great.

Thanks.

[BobbyDog]

It is difficult Mark when you are used to having the support of another adult, especially someone close to you.

I would say, try and let your dad have a break, it is frightening being on your own, but it will give you more confidence in yourself and a sense of accomplishment once you have done it.

Try and find things to keep yourself busy, gardening, walking, computer games, reading etc.

take care:D

[chemilyx]

Hi Mark,

The first thought that came to mind for me was maybe trying an internship.

There are a lot of good careers resources/ websites on the internet, and there should be tests you can take where you can find out where your natural talents lie and maybe exploring jobs in that area/ skillset. I found a site I really liked was www.prospects.ac.uk although I used that when I was at uni, I'm not sure whether you can use it if you're not in an educational institution. But as I said there are lots of resources on the web!

A natural progression from there might be trying to find an internship in that area. It doesn't have to be through official internship programmes that you find one - a lot of the time you can just ring up the company and ask to speak to HR or whoever the relevant people are, and enquire about the possibility of an internship.

That way you can work out whether you would actually enjoy doing the job. If not, you've not lost anything and at least you know you wouldn't enjoy it - if you do, then a lot of the time they will be willing to take you on afterwards as well.

I honestly think it would be a really good way of you seeing what you enjoy.

Something else to think about as well is just trying to engage in as many hobbies as possible. I'm too unwell to work at the moment unfortunately and all my time is free and I know how hard it is to find a purpose and reason to wake up in the morning when you don't have a job or something you enjoy. But I've just tried to pursue things that I enjoy such as photography. I've done an evening course in it at college and met some new people and I've become better at photography and it's a skill I've been able to develop. As a result I feel a bit better about myself - at least more so than I did when I was doing nothing!

Maybe look into joining some casual social groups as well - for instance if you enjoy reading you could maybe join a book club.

Just a few ideas there, hope this helps somehow!

[lleksam]

Hey,

We've all been there mate, I spent years bouncing around jobs until I finally knew what I wanted to do.

It's a big world and it can take a long time to find the right path so try not to feel so down about it your like so many other 20 somethings out there.