I can't stand being a teenager

I'm approaching nineteen and it's been shit. So ridiculously shit.

Before I entered adolescence I was spoon-fed this idea that my teens would be great, i.e. popularity, boys, freedom, a pubescent "glow-up".

I shit you not, neither of that happened. I've not yet reached an A cup. I partially blame it on the media in which we're fed — this whole idea that your teenage years are the best years of your life. In reality it's stress, bullying, isolation, angst, and just a shit-load of issues that I could sit here for hours typing. I think you get the gist, however.

I resonate with you on the hormone bullshit. From the age of twelve I've been struggling with my mental health, and each and every time I'd try to reach out I'd constantly be shut down because it was just a phase, or hormones, or the transition from one school year to another. Well, no, I was balls-deep in depression and anxiety — still am, ay — due to my father's alcoholism, emotional abuse and manipulation, as well as my mum's persistent gambling habits that essentially reduced our finances so much so I couldn't afford school meals for months on end.

The truth is, it's merely a cop-out. Some people just don't want to deal with other people's issues because they're far too preoccupied with their own. Either that, or they've forgotten what it's like to be a teenager. Now, not every mental health professional you're going to meet are going to be like this. There are some out there who genuinely care and want to help, but the awareness pertaining to mental health is still in its infancy, despite it being 2019. Yeah, I'm pissed about that as well.

I wish I could tell you it gets better. I don't know your circumstances, however, so that'd be naive of me to suggest. All I can say is, I understand. Regardless of anything, your feelings are valid, contrary to what some might suggest. And to those who say, "Ha! You don't know what real stress is — just wait 'til you start paying bills," well, they're most likely the hypocrites who tell you to enjoy your youth, all whilst trying to rush you. It says more about them than it does you, and clearly they don't understand, so try not to pay so much mind to what they say.

I'm here if you ever need to vent, I suppose.

/r/TrueOffMyChest Thread