need a place to type and reflect and maybe hope that my experience can help someone else who knows idk.
but I think I finally processed just how bad my mental health has been since the pandemic started and the root causes and depth of how difficult this whole transition of life has been for me.
tonight I was asked in a group meeting about ways I have been struggling lately. and my biggest struggle for a long time has been feeling super isolated. nobody tells you just how hard the transition from college to like real adult life is. You go from this community whether itās student organizations or friend groups or whatever structured time and relationships you have and are thrown into the adult world where like sure you might still have these friends and communicate with them sometimes but the reality is you likely go in different directions for work or family or whatever else and part ways. Regardless of keeping in contact, itās nowhere near the consistency of college life.
On top of all that, I graduated college in December of 2019 so I went straight from this readily available community into a world where we couldnāt even see our families half the time or had to be six feet away to visit a friend or meet virtually and for someone who has had their community stripped away, itās really freaking hard to make new friends when youāre trapped at home all day every day. Which is what brought me to this site and the online community of big brother and survivor ORGs etc. but even then these relationships can be fleeting and surface level. have I met people that I absolutely adore and genuinely love and trust? Absolutely. No doubt about it. But that is not an adequate substitution for in person relationships and the isolation that can develop when you lack that.
I made friends in nursing school the last year and a half and theyāre great and I talk to a few of them here and there but itās the same story as college friends. We went our separate ways for new jobs and are super busy. And now Iām in a new unfamiliar city with millions of people and somehow still just feel incredibly and impossibly alone and isolated and at times itās honestly debilitating like I just feel so stuck and confused and lonely and my mental health is in the toilet. Not to mention the emotional toll that working with sick kids can take. So I am just a complete mess.
Do I know how to fix this at all? Not yet. But being able to recognize it and acknowledge and call it out I think is a huge first step. So yeah. Thatās where Iām at. Sorry for the rant. Thanks for following along if you got this far. Appreciate the support of friends here and I wish we were in the same place because that would make some of this so much easier. But we will figure it out! Some way some how !! Okay have a good night everyone
I know I'm prob the last person you wanna hear from but your feelings are so real and I experienced (and am still experiencing) the same thing. I haven't figured it out for myself but one things I try to do is try to stay away from routine and tap into exploring what's around me (literally just like the towns/cities near me, restaurants, bars, etc) and tapping into hobbies or passions -- i'm hoping by doing that it will reintroduce connections into my life that my career has taken me away from :( I love you!
I feel that no one prepared us, I have also gone through a lot thanks to the pandemic, stress makes one sick, I visited a psychologist and it was the best thing, he helped me a lot.
Thereās no correct answer to how youāre feeling or what youāve gone through. But I am a firm believer in putting yourself out there in maybe scary territory as far as meeting people and pushing your own limits. Take it a day at a time and do whatever FEELS right. You are not alone no matter how you feel and know people care about you and are thankful for you. I bet there are so many families who go home and are like āIām so thankful of that nurse todayā. Sign up for a trivia night at a bar or find a group of people who go on walks/hikes together on Sunday mornings or anything like that to just start meeting people. The worst that can happen is that you tried!
First of all, thank you for sharing your feelings with us. I'm sure that was really hard. Hang in there. Try to talk to the ones who are closest to you about how you're feeling and doing. Also I would say that you should try to give your new environment a chance too. Maybe try to get to know some people. Put yourself out there a little bit. Also if you ever want to talk or vent then let me know <3
