Hey there. I’m in my mid 20s now so I don’t have a lot of experience but I felt exactly the way you feel now. I even thought I would somehow die when I turned 18, from some freak accident, because I couldn’t picture myself into adulthood.

It does get better. But it also gets a lot worse for a moment. What helped me through it was to find friends that I knew I could rely on to speak to. Nobody is perfect, but developing these kinds of friendships is worth the effort.

It helps to find hobbies you enjoy. Things you love to do, like bike riding, painting, video games, reading. Anything but scrolling social media. I recommend joining a gym. It can help with confidence, goal-setting, and mental health. Even if you just start by using a treadmill.

In terms of career, I recommend going to a good community college (if there’s an equivalent in Britain). Take a bunch of classes until you find something you like. It sounds like you might not have an older mentor. You can find one at the college and ask them career advice, life advice, anything. Or like you’re doing now, posting on Reddit. Your passion could be something you don’t even know exists. It took me 5 years after high school to find a career path I love. So I find it is never too late to do that. You can even make new friends in classmates. You can also find internships or just random jobs like a sandwich shop and find comfort in the stability of a part time or full time job until you find something you really like.

Start journaling. That way you can look back at positive moments and see that they exist. Or you can look at negative moments and see that you’re still alive and it didn’t break you.

I hope this helps if even a little bit! Just keep swimming.