Career/Job Advice

Hey everyone, please forgive me for what is going to be a long post, but I feel the more detail the better in this case. To give some background, I am a 25-year old single man living with his family. A few months after high school graduation in 2019, I received a scholarship to a film school in SoCal, where I lived at the time. I planned to start my first semester in January 2020, but the world was sadly met with the pandemic. Due to living in California with extreme lockdowns, I kept putting off starting until things opened up. I didn't want to do classes that required in person technical work with cameras and lighting amidst so many restrictions. Cut to 2021, and I was ready to start classes, but I bailed. I was scared. I was so paranoid about the drive on the freeway, parking, and not fitting in. I eventually found a retail job that summer which I stayed employed at until my family moved to the Pacific Northwest in January 2023. It was a terribly rough adjustment, and in the fall I went back to Cali and lived with my grandmother for several months, starting film classes at a community college. I had fun, but had a tough time putting my voice out and collaborating. I felt foreign amidst people who shared my ultimate passion. I moved back to the PNW in early summer of 2024 and got a retail job where I was a supervisor. I worked here for a year and then got hired as assistant manager at a new store opening. I was having a terrible mental health crisis at the time, and I got demoted. I quit the job and have been unemployed for four months. I am 60-70 pounds overweight, depressed and sleeping until 10am. My best friends have careers they are passionate about. I have amazing parents who are supportive of my mental health journey, as this has been an ongoing struggle since I was in the 5th grade. I realize this is a very long post, but I don't know where I belong. I want to work and sustain myself, yet I don't even have an associates degree. I can barely communicate with strangers without feeling like I am on fire. I realize retail isn't for me and I am a very introverted person. Has anyone gone through something similar, but eventually found what works? I have debated a career counselor. I hesitate to find work because of my OCD and anxiety. I want a career that challenges me, but allows me space for my mental health. My mental health has caused crisis at many jobs. Anyhow, if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. Just needed to get this off my chest. Love you all and stay strong. :)