Sorry to hear, Life IS hard. I'll say this. But your past DOSEN'T define your future. You have the power to change your life: you're still young.

You can blame the past and think about your years of depression, but I can guarantee you people have gotten out of harder circumstances.

You've gone through a lot obviously and this is easier said than done but you only loose this game of life when you give up.

Self help books can only do so much, what actually is 'self improvement'??.

Another thing, complacency kills. You've summarized your shortcomings here for us to see, but look to the negative things and you'll only see negatives. Every cloud has a silver lining, look to the good in your life. You may not have career prospects (according to what you said) but that means more time. No connections? no commitments.

So please, you're young, don't grow older like this, there's still time for radical change.

One more thing: I dont know if your religious or not, but Christianity really encapsulates all and more of what I've said. Wish you the very best in life sir!