If I could tell my adolescent self what I know now...

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by IUHoosiergirl88

1. Be nicer to your mom while she's ill. Yes, you're under a lot of stress trying to juggle being a normal person and having a mom with cancer--but you'll regret some of the fights when she's gone.

This. OMG. This.

[thetalady]

This has become my very favorite thread. Very inspirational and touching.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by IUHoosiergirl88

2. Don't take it personally that nobody asked you to prom. You'll get told that you 'got hot' in college.

HIGH FREAKIN' FIVE.

[DubaiSis]

1-LET IT GO. Nothing is worth the teen angst
2-Your friends are crap. Get new ones.
3- the popular girls who annoy the hell out of you, some of them are actually nice and like you more than you think.
4- Do NOT take that summer camp job in Wisconsin.
5-Ok, you can take the job at Club Med but
5a- make sure you stretch before dance rehearsal and
5b- seriously, you have got to chill
6-you are ridiculously flexible
Protect that or one day you will be a rubber band that has gotten brittle
7-seriously, let it go

[TonyB06]

Originally Posted by Jen

I would tell myself to do everything possible to head off the anxiety and depression that's destroyed most of my adult life.

((((Jen)))) You can get a win today, though. Just hold on.

[KDCat]

I would tell myself:

1. Move farther away from your family. They love you, but they are keeping you too close to them. You'll be happier with a little less enmeshment.

2. Aim higher. You are qualified for a lot more than you are taking credit for. Apply to Berkley.

3. Go learn some study habits and apply them. You are smart, but a lousy student.

4. Even if your parents don't see that a particular career is feasible, they don't know enough to know. Decide for yourself.

5. Date better guys. Picking guys because they are not going to engage your emotions too much is a recipe for disaster. You're going to end up with some destructive guys that way. Pick some good guys, even if they're going to get closer than you'd like. Breaking up with a guy that you like is going to much less destructive than dating disposable jerks.

6. You're pretty. Enjoy it.

7. Drink less in college. Play more sports.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Jen

I would tell myself to do everything possible to head off the anxiety and depression that's destroyed most of my adult life.

In high school I think I was at that teetering point of being able to conquer it in early stages, and I would tell myself to get involved more, not worry about other people and what they think of me so much, and that there was nothing wrong with how I looked. I'd encourage my younger self to do more activities I liked so I could meet more people, connect more and not be so afraid of being judged.

I'd also tell my younger self to get help sooner when the symptoms did start. I look back at her and think as crappy as I thought things were in high school, they were actually pretty good and I should have enjoyed it more, and connected to it all more.

I'd tell her to take the chance to go straight to university instead of community college first, that doing the scary things would have helped her so much then, because a time was coming when leaving the house would become a scary thing. I'd tell her to enjoy the moments she wasn't suffering and recognize them. I'd tell her to be kind to herself, to stop beating herself up and that she deserved good things no matter what the ugly voice in there said. I'd tell her to do her best to live and fight the monster and save her adult self. It kills me so much that I can't go back and warn her.

+1

I wish I had gotten an SSRI much, much sooner. It's been very helpful for me.

[Tulip86]

Originally Posted by Jen

I would tell myself to do everything possible to head off the anxiety and depression that's destroyed most of my adult life.

In high school I think I was at that teetering point of being able to conquer it in early stages, and I would tell myself to get involved more, not worry about other people and what they think of me so much, and that there was nothing wrong with how I looked.

I'd also tell my younger self to get help sooner when the symptoms did start.\ I'd tell her to be kind to herself, to stop beating herself up and that she deserved good things no matter what the ugly voice in there said. I'd tell her to do her best to live and fight the monster and save her adult self. It kills me so much that I can't go back and warn her.

This. Many times this. Thank you for putting in words what I can't always say myself.