Dear Sam, I left college about a month ago due to financial issues and can't restart college until September. In the meantime I spend most of my time alone because all of my other friends are in college and it's starting to become hard being alone and isolated so often. I just don't know how to cope. Do you have any suggestions??
Sam
Hi there,
Everyone experiences feeling lonely from time to time, however sometimes these feelings can really get you down and start to take over.
Being alone whilst your friends are in college sounds hard, but keeping yourself busy during the day will help you to cope with that. It can be hard to motivate yourself to do things with your time but if you start small then it can be a bit easier to work up to bigger things.
It might be as simple as going for a 5 minute walk to begin with, before working up to other things like joining a club or doing some voluntary work. They don’t have to cost money but could give you the opportunity to meet more people.
Talk to your friends about how you are feeling - they may not realise how isolated you are. If you arrange things that you can all do together when they are not in college it will help you all to stay connected.
Money issues can be really stressful. Student finance was set up to help young people borrow money to pay for university or college tuition fees, and to help with living costs. You might get extra help if your family are on a low income, or if you are disabled, or have children.
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
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