I went through that period when I was a freshmen in high school. It made me terribly depressed, so I decided to just start trying new things. I joined several school clubs, started hanging out with my friends more, and took up new hobbies (one of them being drawing more often than I was. By the time I graduated, I was in the newspaper twice, voted most artistic, painted a mural in our library, and had two pieced put into the school's permanent art collection). You just gotta find your calling and go for it. Don't be afraid to try new things.
And for the record, the party scene isn't all it's cracked up to be. I started to follow that crowd in late high school and the first two years of college and I regret ever doing it. I did a lot of irresponsible things, one of them being getting engaged to some guy that didn't give a rat's ass about me in the end. I would give anything to erase that and replace it with just me spending time on a computer. Don't be jealous of those kinds of people. This is the time to discover yourself. It's totally okay to go out and have fun every once in a while, but don't become one of those people that takes it to the extreme like a lot of my classmates did. In the end, it's not worth it.

i felt the same way for a long time, i went to work (A dead end nowhere job, becase i lost my old dream job to a girl yonger than me who will do it for cheaper), i went home and ate dinner in silence with my girlfriend neither of us looking t eachother or even caring what the other had to say.


so one day i was sitting at home waiting to go to work (i worked as a telemarketer) and on the tv came an ad for the navy, i went into the recruitment centre and applied, i'm now waiting to be accepted into the australian air force, and now i feel better, i am excited about life and my girlfriend and i have never been happier/chatty with eachother.....

the point isnt to go and join the army or navy or whatever, the hardest thing is getting off the computer, going otside and realising that there is more to the world and jst looking for an adventre is an adventure in itself......

(sorry my U key on my keyboard dosn't work so well)

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I was in the same exact position you were when I was around 19 or 20. Spending all my time on the computer doing internet and anime. After I while I had a similar thought. "Dude, I'm really friggin' bored. I wanna go out and do stuff. Enter the club scene or go to some concerts or something."
Problem was, all of my friends were (comfortably) in the same boat as me. None of them did anything away from their computer and were very content with that. So it's not like I could go out and do shit on my own.
My advice is hit up one of your old friends or make some new, more socially active ones and try their lifestyle out a bit. It all depends on who you hang out with. Yeah it'll be uncomfortable and awkward in the beginning. I stumbled like crazy on my way to a far more social life. But I tell you, it's worth the effort. I'm more satisfied with my life now then I've ever been. Almost every weekend I'm out doing something with friends. There's always something to look forward to.
I think someone said this already but, if you really want your life to change, it's up to you to change it. I say this to everyone: If I can do it, any moron can do it.

I have felt very similar to you before. My advice would be to find a dream or a goal and then fight for it. Everyday find something new or interesting to do. Sounds cheesy, but I hope it helps.

I honestly think it is more honorable to tap around on a computer than to get drunk and pregnant.
Just sayin'.

I stumbled upon this and noticed you'd been taking a bit of a beating here.
I think the solution to your problem actually lies within the fact that people are giving you a hard time for talking about issues that, in all likelihood, they once had, are now much older, and see your problems as 'childish and immature, and hardly worth their time'.

I myself am 18 (nigh on 19) and finished highschool last year. I, too, dealt with the same problems as you do now. I was always a bit of a loner. That's not to say I was a nerd with no friends. I was relatively well liked, I had a few girlfriends, I did well with my grades, and I was well on track to getting an excellent mark in my end of schooling exams (I live in Aus. Not sure what your equivalent is).

With this in mind, I HATED my life sometimes. I felt like I was wasting all my time on computer games. I felt like I should be spending more time studying, or working on my friendships and relationships, taking up a hobby, anything. I became a dark, bitter person for a long time.


So the question, really, is this. If everyone keeps on saying 'it'll pass. get over yourself', then how can you get through it, and more importantly, why are they being so cruel about it?
The sad truth is that, in my experience, life doesn't really get much better or worse. It just gets different. I don't worry about how I spend my free time anymore. I'm not worried about my social skills, because I'm very close to my friends and that's really all I care about
But I worry about why I'm working in a job I hate. I worry about how I'll pay the rent. I worry about why I'm doing a uni course that will never get me a job (studying philosophy), and why I'm so sociopathic.

People are giving you a hard time over this question because they can't answer it. If they could, they'd be living the perfect, happy life. Unfortunately, they aren't, and they need to take out that frustration on you.
But... if that isn't the answer you were hoping for... Then try this.
If you have any hobbies at all (drawing, music, anything that creates something) then spend more time doing it. especially if it's a hobby you enjoy, and can replace gaming/online chatting time with. Spending time improving a hobby is productive and often recreational.

If talking to 'people you'll most likely never meet' is something you really enjoy... Good! You are spending this time developing important social skills you will need later on in life.
You aren't going out to parties and drinking and getting laid all the time? Good! Your brain cells will applaud you for it. Time spent 'having fun' is time you regret wasting later on. I don't know many people that drank their way through highschool and didn't regret it.


I hope that any of this was able to help. If I had more time (I'm going to be late to work D I'd write more.
As it is... You'll get through it in the end. It's rough, yes. But at the times it feels the worst, do the things you like the best. And eventually... it'll be gone. Because if there is anything you can get from the 'teenage problems are a myth' and 'your problems don't really matter' people, it's that these things DO go away.
Best of luck, friend.

Teenage problems are a myth.

i've thought like that for a long time. In the end you have to ask yourself: do you like to stay that time on the computer?
In my case, I like to do both, although my computer wins most of the time. It's just a hobby that I have and that I love to do.
bottom line is: If you like to do it, do it. Nevermind what society says is correct.

I've never believed that your teenage years are the best years of your life. That implies after highschool, it's all downhill, and considering how quickly that time goes by, I don't see why that has to happen. Learn to make your own happiness. If anything, my life has gotten better since highschool.

Well if you're not happy with your life now, I don't see how making a forum about it online and talking to random people will change that. Considering it seems to be the part you're not happy about. It's contradictory. Nothing's going to change unless you MAKE it change, so go out and do something useful instead of sitting here on the forums.