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Divaluscious said:
I guess it depends why you are still at home in a way - there is nothing wrong with doing it to save money, etc. Lots of my friends in their 20s-early 30s have done it to save for going travelling or to recover financially when they come back

Generally, however, they treat it more as a flatting (rooming) situation, where they are not answerable for their whereabouts - e.g. out of courtesy they'll just say when they'll be home or when they will not be.

Is there a particular reason that your friends are overly protective of you?

I don't see the opportunity for you to grow and develop as a person if you are in the situation you describe, though.

All the best.

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<font color="#880000"> Hi Divaluscious,
The main reason for still living with my parents is because they discouraged any move towards autonomy and self-reliance. As late as 2001, I still didn't not have a healthy identity. I didn't have any preferences of my own. My identity was enmeshed with my mom's. For instance, I got into New Age because my mom did. This is just one example of the pervasiveness of my lack of individuality. I am still healing from the pain of having lived most of my life hating myself. My mom has never accepted the fact that I am an individual with different likes and dislikes.
Another reason I still living in my parents' home is that I got dimissed from the university that I am attending now after appealing. I feel this overwhelming fear of having failed and of ever failing again. My mom is partly responsible for this. Since the first time I told her what I was majoring in, she always told me of the downsides of each career I thought of pursuing. I have changed majors too many times out fear for the things my mom said would happen. I am still in the same university I originally started as an undergraduate freshman. More than 10 years have passed and I haven't graduated on something yet.
Saving money is also a reason of why am still there.

It is not my friends who are overprotective, it is my PARENTS. My parents have ruined my past friendships. So, I lie now. Sincerity has a price in my family: It stops you from experiencing the joy of having a friend that truly accepts you as you are. My parents never allowed me to have any friends during my childhood and adolescence.
This past saturday I did tell them I was going to a friend's birthday party. Appearantly, they were not satisfied with that much information. </font>