I cant tell you how much I feel your pain. I too have a 17 year old daughter turning 18 in the next month with severe social anxiety and depression. She is on medication and seeing a psychologist but its a constant roller coaster. Most nights anywhere between 11.30pm and 2.30am she has complete melt downs and sobs and sobs and says how lonely she is but trapped in her own head. It breaks my heart. I too work fulltime and am a single mum trying to hold it all together, I worry about losing my job because of all the time I have to have off. I'm exhausted too and feel like all I want to do is pull the sheets over my head and just cry and cry until I cant anymore. I love my daughter but it sometimes feels like ill never have a life as I will be caring for her forever. At 18 I would have thought she would be out doing her own thing with friends and all, but in reality, she is couped up in the house 24/7 as she fears judgement and persecution. She had to leave year 12 as she could no longer cope and today is their graduation. She is a mess as she misses her friends and wishes she too was graduating, but, she cant. It is so hard to watch a once beautiful intelligent young girl with so much potential slowly withdraw from life to the point she has no friends and spends most days on her own. Cant go to TAFE, UNI or even get a job as she cant deal with the social aspect. She says she doesn't want her birthday as she has no one, when everyone else is celebrating with birthday parties etc. with all their friends. Life is just so unfair sometimes. I go to the psychologist  with her as she cant go on her own but I do not actually receive any counselling myself. I often feel lost and sometimes very frustrated as I don't know how to help her. I too resign myself to the fact that this is it and when she says she doesn't want to be here, I wonder if one day my worst fear will come to fruition. How do we not blame ourselves, not think of all the ifs, buts and maybes of things we should have done or done better. ... View more