CaToAus93

So, I had a realisation today that I spend so much time trying to please others that I never really take the time to make myself happy. I sacrifice my happiness in a few different ways just like these: -I study a degree I hate to make my parents happy; -I work so hard to physically perfect myself (to no avail) to please other men, etc. So my question here is, do you put the needs and expectations of others above yourself? and if so, how do you make time for yourself? I've already spent so much of my time attempting to please others (failing majority of the time) that I just haven't had some time to make me happy.

Hey guys, Thanks heaps for all this advice. It's been really great to hear. Today I tried to start today off on a happier note. I will say that today has been better than most recently. I spent the whole day with my best friend in the world. She managed to make me laugh at almost everything. Also on a plus note, she has told me that one of her co-workers is quite interested in me (and he is a super nice guy). So, I'm trying my best to act "normal" and so far so good. We're hanging out tomorrow night (FINGERS CROSSED I DON'T DO SOMETHING STUPID!) Any way, I talked to my academic advisor who's helping me sort out some discrepancies in my end-of-year results. The only downside to today. My parents arrived back from their weekend in Sydney. I told my parents about the university stuff. Dad said that I should be pleased that stuff's getting sorted out, however, my mother decided it'd be best to put me down and say that I'm not allowed a social life for the rest of the holidays. If I had to give today a rating, I'd give it a 7/10. A huge start. Thanks heaps guys!

Hey everyone, first time post for me here. So, I'm 19 years old and I've just finished my first year of university. I've been suffering from pretty bad depression since about last year (first diagnosed in 2004) and no matter how hard I try to keep my head high and just keep walking through life, I'm finding it more and more frustratingly difficult. just a few reasons -I live in an area where being out and proud is not considered a safe option -I think I'm forcing myself to like my university degree because I'm too afraid of not knowing what I want to do with my life. -I only have 2 really close friends and they live a) 400km away, b) 12,700km away. -I have such low self-esteem that when a guy does hit on me, I shrug it off because I think that I'm not good enough, when I'd actually be really happy to give a relationship a go -my family (while they don't realise it) can be really judgemental. I'm currently home for uni break with my friend A). I want to tell her so badly what's going on in my head but I'm so afraid of her reaction to it that I just can't do it. I'm getting to the stage where I just can't keep strolling through life pretending that something good is going to happen. I can't keep lying to myself about how everything is going to end up for me. If it will end up for me. I've tried casually talking to my parents about some of these issues but they always just ignore them or tell me I'm being irrational. I could use a bit of a friendly hand right about now :(