I'm not going to tell you that getting out of the cycle of emotional illness is easy. Its not. I can tell you that with work, and hopefully finding a therapist you can afford, you can still have a decent quality of life.

In my late teens and twenties were really bad. Suicide attempts, staying out all night driving aimlessly around, etc. Now I'm fifty and though I still have bouts of depression, low self esteem and trust issues, i'm fairly functional. (I say fairly because I have some physical pain issues that have really disrupted my life). It was only after I was 26 that I was able to get it together and go back to school. This time all 8yrs. Undergraduate, then veterinary school. It wasn't easy, but if you could have seen what a mess i was, you would never have believed I could ever do anything worthwhile.

Don't ever give up. You never know what is down the road.

Sam2