I don't really know where to start. I graduated high school this year but I've just been really depressed this summer for some reason. I remember I couldn't wait to get out of high school, now I want to go back really bad. I just don't know why I feel this way. Maybe it's because outside of high school, I don't really hang out with anyone and I'm always by myself. I did have some girlfriends but things just didn't work out so I have no partner or anything. I don't know why I just feel really sad that I'm not going back to school this monday, I've started to wish I had enjoyed my time there more. Also, to be honest high school was the only place where I saw girls at so that might be another reason. I just really want to quit depressing over this and try to enjoy life now that I'm out of it.

Sorry for my rant, it just felt good to share to people. Has anyone else ever felt like this after high school?

I just graduated myself. I know how you feel man. The reason you may feel like you do know is because people start going their own way, and/or you may not have any direction in your life. If you know exactly what to do, I'm sure you'll feel better.

Officially I'm going back to high school to get some extra credits and better marks(unofficially, I'm going back for teh younger womenz) so I feel a bit more comfortable since I got a plan...for the moment. Go for one thing at a time. Think about if you are going to post secondary, or if you are going to join the military or if you are just entering the work force. If you have a job and are keeping busy, that could help. Just don't spend all your days partying, because you'll be 30 before you know it.

Well, let's put it this way.

You're out of High School now. That means that you are no longer stuck having to, for the most part, exclusively communicate with people that you can't hold an intelligent conversation with. Go to a club or some kind of get-together. Do something that you haven't done before.

You want to change your situation? Put yourself in one you have never been in before. Now that you're out of Curfew-Town, you have all the room in the world to experiment with things.

I felt a bit like that the summer after I graduated until I went to university. College is awesome.

Not going to college? Work?
I think the social aspect of school is definitely a part of things for some of us. When I was done with highschool the friends I made there all went to other cities for college and so I was "alone" in that sense...it did feel weird..plus, you suddenly feel like you're maybe on the bottom of the social totem pole again, or something - if that makes any sense. Then I started working and met new people/friends that I started hanging out with (even after changing jobs etc) that way, and all was good again. It can take some time to adjust to a new environment/lifestyle when you've been doing things "one way" for a long time, so there's nothing bizarre about the way you're feeling, I think.

Go to college.

I've changed schools so many times that it didn't matter to me. Going from high school to college was no biggie. Plus, I have a lot of friends with me, and am generally good at making new ones. Still in college though. Can't wait until I'm finally done with all these damn tests. I still have 5 years to go, plus the USMLE to pass.

After that I think I'm in the clear. That's when I drop at my uncle's feet and beg to let me work in his clinic. Or at least make some introductions.

Edit: And get engaged to the girl of my dreams. Her opinion is irrelevant. Muahahahahaha!



















Just kidding... She's cool with it.

Kind of, for a few weeks. Then summer was over and I went to university and my life became much more fun than it was before. Didn't you make any plans for what to do after high school?

Thanks for the replies guys.


I work but Im not really close friends with anyone there.

I'll be starting college in January.

Yeah I'm going to a community college in January in Utah if anyone on here lives there.

Well, if you are going to school, in that case just sit back and relax man! Get through your backlog of games, catch up with old friends or do things you never had the time to.

My summer job after I graduated was miserable and hard - manual labor in a national park. Really gave me the incentive to study hard that fall.


Why not College of Southern Nevada this fall? No time like the present!

This. It's a very exciting time of your life, when you can experiment wildly and not many people will judge you for it. Just don't be a shut-in like I was in my first year. It may be fun in the short term to stay in all week to play games and watch movies but depression and emptiness that way lies. There's time for that when you're older.

Yeah true. Problem is I just don't hangout with anyone hardly because most of them are working or in college. I do hangout just not alot.


My family is moving to Utah so I'm just moving with them, then I'll start up there. Otherwise I would have started.


Yeah thats what I am usually, just always in the house playing games or on the computer. I exercise to, such as jogging but I still feel depressed.

I actually never really felt that way right after high school. I spent my summer after graduating staying pretty busy with friends before leaving for the Army. However I did have that feeling of missing highschool once I got back and friends had gone to schools out of state/moved or were just so busy with school to really spend time out like we use to. I wouldn't describe what I felt as depressing though.

Well it's like they say. Now your on your own in this world. Your going to college/university right? Then don't worry. You will find friends from different schools, and probably make more, but first it's time to focus on your future. Your career. It's time to leave the past right? so don't get depressed Really i never really had problems. I graduated already *class of 2011* so .. i have a job, go to college, bought a new car, have money, i buy things, hang out with some close friends i have. And now i am almost done finishing college. *Rn program* So yeah .. no depression for me.

To the OP: Your feelings about missing high school is normal. Many felt the same way, including myself. When I was in high school, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there, but the last days were sad because I was going to miss the people I met there. School, like the workplace, is a second home. The people there(including the idiots)are your second family.

Luckily, for me, I went to art school after I graduated. I met new people, and best of all, they were mature, and like the same thing I liked(art). Change is hard, but change could be the best thing that could ever happen to someone. Adapting to change is what mature people are made of.

The only cure is to get out and socialize. Find a structured program and follow it while also going out and exposing yoruself to new places and activities. It all comes together before you can realize a change in mood.

EDIT: I was already depressed before I graduated high school. I had all of the required credits to graduate before my senior year and so I spent that last year doing nothing but going through the motions. \

I have a social disorder that causes me to panic and hide when people start to make any kind of intimate connection with me. So when everyone wanted to be my friend and lots of girls were trying to get my attention all of the sudden, during my senior year I really shut down and became a recluse.

I was an extreme case in that I dropped out of college halfway through my first year because I could not get myself to leave my dorm room for anything. I almost died from inactivity after a few years of this. I still have trouble getting jobs or completing a college degree because I inevitably draw attention from others and it causes my brain to go into 'hide' mode. I know what I need to do, but am incapable of doing it.

I'm in the opposite boat, I'm "homeschooled" in alaska (hard to explain, I teach myself, but have a supervisor there when I need it, its a new type of public school, they're even paying for college courses until I graduate highschool) and don't have many friends.
I'm going to college for a degree in in elementary teaching next year in South Dakota and can't wait for it.

I do know how you feel though, I suffered major depression almost for the last two years (I'm a senior). Mostly due to not having many friends and things like that.

You're the only one who can do something about it. Make new friends, find out why you're not happy and do something about it.

In my instance, I wasn't doing much anything but school and gaming. Recently, I lost 50lbs (now down to around 150lbs) and am making strides to hang out with new people (its really hard at first, but you'll love it eventually).


Just remember, life is better with friends no matter who you are. If they don't come to you, you go to them.

Yeah, I plan to start looking into quality nursing homes when I'm doing my senior year.
Anyway, the military is the way to go.

If you don't mind me asking, what is it that draws so much attention from others?

High school is nothing compared to life after high school. But it's your choice if you don't hang with anyone, if you really wanted to you would make the effort. Same goes with girls.

I was never successful with girls in high school. Pretty nerdy guy you know?

Now I'm engaged to the most wonderful woman I've ever seen. If there's one piece of advice I could give you in the ladies department, it would be to hang out with ladies you like and talk to them. Just talk and learn and discover. Who cares if you strike out? It's apart of learning, apart of life.

Since you know you're starting school, then you should definitely take this Fall and Winter to relax and discover yourself. Also, enjoy as many videogames as you can, while you can!

It's definitely rough once you get out of HS cause that plan you had may fall apart or it seems incredibly daunting. Felt the same way as I looked out from that 2nd floor towards the curb during that night I ended my time in the honor society. Looking at that curb I got a sense of that same feeling a friend of mines brother had as I saw him looking towards the horizon. Where do I go from here?

Been asking that question myself after I graduated from the community college near me with an Associate in Arts degree.

Only thing I can really say is try to get a job if you can. At the moment employers are getting really stingy where they don't want to train people. Those that don't have work experience are left in the dust making it hard to get employed, even at the most basic of stuff like busing tables or stocking shelves.

I hated high school. Couldn't have been happier to finally leave it. I wasted three years trying to survive in a place full of morons whose only goal was to throw a party of the century in their parents' apartments and get dead drunk. Sure, there were normal people too, but not in my class. I didn't talk to anyone and went about my own business. I had friends outside school and they were all I needed.
The classes were mostly useless, I skipped half of them in my final year and still got great exams results. While I have nothing against education per se, the system we have here is quite terrible and usually you're better off studying on your own.

I'm in college now and the only thing I regret is that I couldn't come here earlier. It's a much better life, maybe more difficult without my parents' help, far from home and in a completely new place - but that's what I love about it. At last I can make my own decisions and devote my time to learning things I'm interested in, things that will help me get the job I want and have a successful life. It's liberating.

However, I can imagine how difficult it must be for someone who actually liked their high school. Take your time, do something you enjoy but didn't have time for, or something you always wanted to try but never got around to. Don't worry about friends - you'll easily find them in college. It will be a whole new environment, but this is a change for the better. At least it was for me and most people I know