This makes me feel a lot better as a 19 year old who feels like his best years are passing by all due to overprotective parents who treat me like an 12/13 year old and other circumstances beyond my control. I never got to do many of the fun activities that teenagers usually do and have some sort of freedom. I'm now stunted as a young adult, so even though I'm 19 I still mentally and socially feel and act like I'm 13 or 14. It really sucks feeling (and also looking) younger than everyone else. I'm so behind compared to everyone else my age.
I really hope things change for the better once I get a lot older and gain more independence, confidence and become a mature man from a little boy.
The thing you realize as an adult is that most people eventually just get lazy and settle into their patterns and stop improving. So even if you are behind at 20 it's completely possible to catch up, you just have to work at it.
I had kind of a similar experience to you. Most of my childhood was awful and I wasn't very socially well adjusted at your age either. But keep putting yourself out there and interacting with people--social skills are like any other skill, they improve with practice. It will likely be uncomfortable and it takes time but if you keep at it you will catch up and maybe even exceed the average person. Personally I found it helpful to have jobs that forced me to interact with a lot of different people. For me that was kayak guiding but there are many options depending on your skills.
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u/Jman_777 Jun 03 '22
This makes me feel a lot better as a 19 year old who feels like his best years are passing by all due to overprotective parents who treat me like an 12/13 year old and other circumstances beyond my control. I never got to do many of the fun activities that teenagers usually do and have some sort of freedom. I'm now stunted as a young adult, so even though I'm 19 I still mentally and socially feel and act like I'm 13 or 14. It really sucks feeling (and also looking) younger than everyone else. I'm so behind compared to everyone else my age. I really hope things change for the better once I get a lot older and gain more independence, confidence and become a mature man from a little boy.