It looks like a failure at 21; I was there too (at 20) and now I'm 57 and I'm very glad I've kept plugging away the last 37 years!

The world, even your world, isn't that fragile; I had to leave the college major I loved at age 20 and just got my degree in it a year ago, May 2007, and it was worth every moment. Nothing ends that you truly love/need.

I would do whatever you think would be most comfortable and helpful for you. Lives don't go in straight lines, just because we "plan" them that way; good things can still happen for you so there is no regret or feeling of failure. I graduated from college the first time in 1972, with a useless degree and right into the Jimmy Carter recession where the "want ads" were still segregated between "men wanted" and "women wanted". I couldn't have felt more like a failure but did later on in my life. But all that was momentary and gained back.

We're not aware of how fluid and resilient we are and our fortunes when we're in the thick of it. I would get yourself help and then wander out and engage again when you're feeling stronger.