I'm really happy to hear that you got a councilor, which is a pretty important step, so I'm extra frustrated to hear that they seem to be making a mess of it D:

My door's always open if you need someone to talk do, hug, or just a place to stay and not be alone.

Eep, it's not nice you had a bad first experience with a counsellor (do you call them psychologists over there? these might be a different thing.)

Like all professions, there will sadly be good, bad, caring and uncaring people working within them. Try not to lose heart that the first one you came across wasn't very good. (It's seriously "not okay" to be uncaring or brush off peoples feelings in this way. That's not how you help people o_o)

I am assuming this was a councilor attached to a free service of sorts, like school, college, etc? Like all things, quality and professionalism vary. I wonder if this person has any real qualifications which they spent years to get to the position they are now, or if they're just a part time person with not much background in it.

If you've been dealing with your issues for a long time, they won't go away by just "dealing with it", a proper psychologist will ask you about how your feelings have changed or not changed over the years, how you feel when doing certian things, and start discussing this and much more in depth with you. You'll explain a small bit about your family history, childhood and etc (as much or as little as you want or feel is relevant); and both of you will start to discover what the source of your lack of energy, or what the cause of your depression is. It takes a few sessions for -both- of you to understand what the problems are. It's not a one-sided thing, it's a path of discovery for both of you, and that trust is really important.

My suggestion, is you might need to consider the fact you may need to put money towards this. This is such an important thing that determines how the rest of your life will play out. I'd start by asking around friends who have had psychology of their own choice before, how was their experience? who did they speak to? Was the person experienced and trustworthy? Next is to look up local psychology professionals in your town or area, check their certifications (someone who has spent 5-10 years in the profession, with many established, nationally or internationally recognized qualifications are better than someone with a 1 year training course.)

Source: I got lucky and landed a very experienced, knowledgable person on my first try. I've so far learned a few things about myself, and confirmed a few others that I suspected or never realised was directly related.

At your stage, the most valued help you can sometimes get, is someone experienced enough in putting the peices together. Little, seemingly unrelated things like never getting much recognition from a mother in your younger days, or not having a strong, caring and stable mother or father figure in early lifes mean so much more than we realize.

Apologies for the wall of text, but as someone who can understand (and can consider himself to be going through what you are), I hope my ramblings will give you hope and insight, and inspire you to start looking for someone who -actually- has a clue what they're doing ;p They are out there, consider them "life coaches" who's only motivation isn't to give you a brief diagnosis and get you out the door as fast as possible.

As an aside: I'm 27, and I sometimes get frustrated or sad that it took me until I was this age to realise this isn't going to fix it's self, and started what I should have done 5-6 years ago. I could say I envy you, that you have begun at least the first steps to finding someone that can help you. o_o

(I'm normally not this wordy, I promise *chuckles* but this strikes a hopefully-helpful chord with me!)

Hey friend. Sorry to hear that things have been getting worse in this regard. I'm also sorry to hear that your counselor as receptive to your troubles as they SHOULD have been. :(

Anxiety and depression are hard, and it takes a lot of strength to deal with, but please understand that you don't have to do it alone. In fact, going it alone is the worst way to do so. So please, keep talking to and with us. We want to support you and be there for you. We have all been through hard times and lots of us would not have gotten through them without the friends we have made along the way. So don't ever try and take it all on yourself.

That being said, I hope you are doing a bit better today. If not you can always come talk with me. Even if you are doing better, you can talk to me, or any of us. ;) We kinda like you... Like, a lot! So just remember that, no matter what you may be going through, we are here for you. And while we may not always have the perfect answers, we will always have open arms and time to listen.

Aww :( I know exactly how you feel! I'm in a similar pickle myself if you haven't noticed yet. I'm fine in small groups of 2-4 people but after that I start getting social anxiety attacks and have to take a break from everything. But I've gotten better because of medical marijuana. I chose this path because it works for me but I don't recommend it for people who have difficulty balancing their lives.