If you mean in the sense of having a clear idea of who you are and where you come from, this is something everyone has to decide for themselves even if they do have a family. You can still do this without having a family.

If you mean in the sense of having people you can rely on to support you and to feel connected with, you can find this also. Some people find it in churches and other social clubs, but I think you may find those a bit too conventional and judgmental. It is worth taking some time to find a group you have things in common with, but it can be done. Keep in mind that people come together for a time and then fall away. You may have to do this several times so it is a skill worth developing.

A job that is not decent shows you are willing to work and to learn new things. That's the strategy I'm taking now. It is better than not having any money at all, and being forced to stick to a schedule really can help. I don't know about where you live, but where I live I can earn money working and still receive unemployment benefits.

The state has more people to help than they have resources for. This is about them, not you. On the other hand, it is possible that there are tax benefits that future employers can get from hiring you and this is something a rehabilitation service may be able to help you with. If so it is something that you may want to be sure to let employers know, so long as you don't think it will interfere with your ability to work with them. I thought school was picky about attendance and being on time, but I had an employer who said that anything over 30 seconds late was automatically 4 hours without pay.

Most people need help getting accepted for social security disability, and almost everyone gets rejected the first time. I think I heard that blind people tend to be accepted the first time, but that was several years ago. You can't be working at all while you apply either. Again, the system is overwhelmed right now with new applicants who are filing for disability more for long term unemployment rather than being unable to work.

ACT is in Iowa City, but someone mentioned to me that people can get work helping to score tests that they can do from home. I don't know if it is true or not - but it wouldn't take long to find out what company they go through for this and to see if it is something you can do. A lot of it is reading over essays and comparing them to a checklist to make sure that they included every point that they needed to include.

It is hard to comment on what you look like without any idea what you look like. I know that men have a reputation for being concerned only with looks, but I think you should be aware that women are far more critical this way than men can ever dream of being. In general. This means you, too. Most men don't really care too much about how they look once they have the basics of hygiene established (their hair is clean, they washed up with soap and water, they don't have food caught in their teeth, and so on). What I am thinking is that you shouldn't be concerned about how you look either. By that I mean, stop tearing yourself down. It is one thing if you are doing things like putting on makeup because it makes you feel good about yourself, but if you do it because you have to to avoid feeling bad that is a problem. For both men and women, confidence in yourself is truly sexy. It is that feeling that you know you are worth being with that will attract a man who will share that belief. It sounds like things are really difficult in your life right now and that is probably doing a great deal to undermine your confidence. Who you are is separate from the problems you are experiencing. You don't have to wait for your life's situation to improve to know that you deserve better.

And being surrounded by other people having serious problems can be depressing, too.

Online friendships are usually very casual, in a here one day and gone the next kind of way. It isn't you and it isn't them; it is the nature of online friendships. What do you really even know for sure about the people you meet online? Lots of countries have states. I am only assuming you are female because you are looking for guys, but then, you could just as easily be a man. That's the way it has to be because you never know what kind of stalker freaks are out there or how they will react to you. It just doesn't make for good bonding between people and lasting relationships.

It is good that you found this place. You can bring those feelings here and it will help take some of the pressure off. It is good to be understood. Like it says in the book 1984, it can even be more important than being liked. You can't be understood for who you are and what you are going through when you have to hold so much back.