Failure to Launch Syndrome

Failure to launch is defined by the inability for young adults to move towards greater independence and self-realization. Drug addiction & underlying mental illness are often contributing factors to failure to launch. Finding treatment for failure to launch can be necessary for moving forward.

[ramcesdelgado]

24 year old me here. Couple years ago I graduated from HS, didn’t go to College. Then dropout from my internship work due to the pandemic awhile back. Feeling stuck of not knowing what to do myself and battled with depression.

[jacobperez]

I am 29 and I always knew I was a failure to my family ever since graduating from high school as I never went to college u til recently and I don’t have any significant marketable skills and I currently work at a dead end job as a janitor. I never knew the term “failure to launch” but it makes sense. I always though I was the few in the world in this life situation but tragically I am not. I hope everyone going through I am going through starts thinking about their future prospect and start working hard to get out of this mentality.

[simpleuser]

Also known as "hikikomori" but the west doesn't like to use a Japanese originated term at this time.

[approdunit]

I left college due to anxiety and depression
I used to have panic attacks.
But i m recovering but unable to find a full time job.

[lindac]

I know someone who is 53….going through this. I am starting to believe they will never change

[Doors]

Failure to launch, choosing a life of comfort and convenience for the dull mundane office life of talking shot behind each others backs like a high school classroom while 50 year old woman brag about how they want to drink margaritas so they can still sound cool as if alcohal is something risqué and neat

[md-erwz]

I think a big thing is men want success, in today's age economic mobility is greatly reduced from the 1980s where you can get a great paying job straight out of highschool, these days all you can get is $10 an hour and barely survive, so why even try anymore if there's no opportunity to become successful your working your self to death to still be poor these days

[lbbendykidd]

Am a 23 year old college dropout. Was originally planning to study psychology, but had fears that even if I did graduate I wouldn't be able to find my own job and residence anyway.

[roxyb]

I wonder how many of these people actually have unrecognized developmental differences like autism or ADHD?

[ROMANEMPIRE]

Failure to launch? Well goals don’t always succeed. There is always the possibility of failure. I’ve been to school, college, had many jobs that all failed. Now I’m pretty much middle aged, homeless and struggling just to be poor. It sucks but that’s how life is for some. Or maybe my life purpose was not to succeed but for a spiritual learning. Once that is complete I pass away.

[opufy]

i dropped out of school worked in slimy business gave it up, went back home never had a real skillset to fall back on now im 30 trying to go back to school to be a doctor but fuck.... this is me

[Nihilanth]

37 years old here and failed to launch

[kynchan]

I reckon the long education process and expectation for very high goals that may or may not be achievable straight away and failure to fit to those expectations has something to do with it.

If you take education (degree) it is usually very open ended with no real purpose in mind, unlike something that is vocational and fits into somewhere in society. When graduates apply for hundreds or thousands of jobs/schemes and don't get in there is really not much demand for those graduates, if it was a healthy market there would be plenty of demand.

When you take expectation much depends on income and resourcefulness (make and find alternatives for needs). Repeated failure makes some people give up on everything. It seems pointless to even try. After a time a certain apathy sets in.

When I was young I wanted to leave school early and go into a trade (plumbing or mechanic) and my life would be set within those parameters for work. But my parents wanted a graduate for the expectation of good work with prospects (as they were sold a dream). Well, the degree was earned but the jobs didn't open and I ended up in the trades any way, making a good income and being able to create good investments. Many people had the dreams of good job too after all that formal education, but it was only a dream, fueled by more expectation and speculation but not reality. It is when people are divorced from reality for too long and then have to confront it that find the dream is far better and reality horrible.

[SuperSaiyanScandinavian]

only reason i'm not living at home anymore is that my parents both died. i still struggle with this issue and will turn 34 this coming weekend. gonna get black out drunk and eat cheesecake all alone and try to forget about how useless i am in this world.

[LindleyMatthias]

Our 19-year-old son graduated recently and has opted not to attend college, nor any trade school, nor the military. He has opted to continue working at his job he worked in high school, one where he does hands-on machinery work but never 40 hours per week; more like 20-25 hours per week. Sometimes the owners simply hire him to mow their own yards or rotate their wives’ tires. Our son comes home often in the early to mid afternoons on weekdays and just watches YouTube videos, streaming them to our main living room TV. We are paying for everything in his life except gasoline and fast food. We are at a loss. We initially set a date of August 15 for him to have some sort of realistic plan, but now my husband has moved it to September 1st. I feel it’ll never get resolved. My husband is very soft-hearted toward this particular son, and I try not to rock the boat in order to save the peace in our marriage and in our 14-year-old daughter’s life. Our older son is very successful, working on a doctorate degree now. Where did we go wrong with son #2? And no, he does not seem depressed or anything of that nature; rather, he seems totally content to drift through life aimlessly.

[Fiatshredder]

This should be a conversation parents should start with their children from a very young age. It should be expected they move out on their own.

[Sahil-ufdy]

I have SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER (& i FUCCCKING HATE IT ), resulted from Childhood Traumas - being constantly bullied by Groups of kids ... Im too FAILED TO LAUNCH in outside world, I FEEL VERY IMMATURE, NOT READY/UNPREPARED for Outside & Worldly Tasks !

[kylebarvel]

I am autistic who has just graduated from CS, my first job was really hard for me. I am feeling this transition as like climbing a sudden cliff

[mattdestroyer]

Refusal to launch. There's nothing to launch into.

[Alpine]

I'm not sure if I'm a failure or syndrome or something.. but i feel I'm not good at..

Family
Friends
Education
Social
Society
Works
Etc.

I've try to be the best.
But nothings work for me.
Altho sometimes It's work but i feel something more unexpected coming that I can't handle it. It's like there's a wall .. not let me to success in life, for 10 years and now I'm 25. I feel I'm still in cages. Something that i don't even know how to explain it.