Is 23 too soon?

[TheOrangeEatsCreeps]

It's crazymaking. I keep hearing that it's entirely to do with the age, like 23 is the guaranteed "get fucked" year for everyone, and it'll get better at some nondescript mystery year in the future. But it's difficult to some ignore the conditions that differentiate Gen Z 23 from say, Gen X 23. Most notably an economic downturn that's made me and many others literally too poor to live. Not to mention personal turmoil constricting me in ways that I can't imagine are all that common. Simultaneously, I feel like it's too late. It feels pathetic to even consider, leaving behind a friendless, homeless, college-dropout corpse. Not that I need a packed funeral, but I don't want even more humiliation posthumously. Is there some massive chemical rebalance in the brain at 24? Is it worth holding out? Any current, recent, or former 23 year olds know anything I don't? Thanks.

 

[derpyderpins]

It's crazymaking. I keep hearing that it's entirely to do with the age, like 23 is the guaranteed "get fucked" year for everyone, and it'll get better at some nondescript mystery year in the future. But it's difficult to some ignore the conditions that differentiate Gen Z 23 from say, Gen X 23. Most notably an economic downturn that's made me and many others literally too poor to live. Not to mention personal turmoil constricting me in ways that I can't imagine are all that common. Simultaneously, I feel like it's too late. It feels pathetic to even consider, leaving behind a friendless, homeless, college-dropout corpse. Not that I need a packed funeral, but I don't want even more humiliation posthumously. Is there some massive chemical rebalance in the brain at 24? Is it worth holding out? Any current, recent, or former 23 year olds know anything I don't? Thanks.

I'm early 30s now, peak suicidal thoughts were around 23-26. My rule has never been about age, it's about what potential big changes to your life could happen. It does tend to trend with age, eg don't kill yourself in high school bc high school can be shit and you might like college/real world more. I do think your generation has it pretty rough economically. It's really shit out there.

If you're homeless and a college-dropout, I'd think about what the chances are of you having a home/stability at some point. And don't worry about what others think at all. Whether to live is your choice.

 

[random_user]

To he honest I think it's largely made up. Personally I can say that there was zero difference when I was 24 to when I was 23. It depends more on the state of your life and which events happen at what point.

However I do believe early to mid 20s is a time where you often see the people around you succesfully build the life that they want and progress in life. It can be hard when at the same time things don't work out for yourself as you wish they would.

 

[SnakesButNoLadder]

Yes, 23 is too soon. You can start life again, from zero.

"If you can survive this, it's going to make the whole story so much better."

Life is hard, especially for our generation, but you can get by. Try to make a plan to stability, then work from there - that's what I'm doing.

 

[terra.nuvo]

I'm also 23 and I just wanna say this shit sucks. People also keep telling me that I'm young and things will get better but its like when is that gonna happen. I have no ability to see things getting better in the future but just cause I'm this age means that I have time. It can be really frustrating sometimes especially when I feel too old. I'm just hoping that everyone is right and that I am still young enough to change things around even though I can't see that for myself right now.

 

[penguinl0v3s]

It's crazymaking. I keep hearing that it's entirely to do with the age, like 23 is the guaranteed "get fucked" year for everyone, and it'll get better at some nondescript mystery year in the future.

Who says this? I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I don't have a friend group or community comprised of 23 year olds. So I'm genuinely curious where that piece of advice comes from.

Is there some massive chemical rebalance in the brain at 24?

That's person-specific. Scientific literature says that the average age of onset with MDD is mid-20s. Or well, John Hopkins University does, and they're like the #1 school for that type of stuff, so I would consider them reliable. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/mental-health-disorder-statistics

Is it worth holding out? Any current, recent, or former 23 year olds know anything I don't? Thanks.

Mmm it depends. I would ask people that have dealt with a similar situation and came out of it, and see what they did. It helps to look up to others to see if life getting better is possible. Respectfully to the people on the forum, most of us are here because we're in a situation that we are a) currently not out of yet b) never going to get out of. Hard to find a successful case here who can give you good advice I'd think.

 

[thenamingofcats]

I felt like this all through my 20s and truly believed it was too late. Now that I'm older I look back and see that wasn't true. I wish I had started over. 23 is so young and as someone mentioned above you can still VERY realistically start from scratch at 23.