I had a near breakdown at 22. It's a weiiiiird age to be at but honestly, just enjoy it. You're not as old as you feel you are.

Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend. Be as forgiving, as patient and don't put up with a significant other treating you in ways you wouldn't approve of someone treating your friend.

Everywhere! Literally if they're under 40, they'll look like that here :-)

Early to mid twenties extential crisis is a rite of passage for most thinking women. If you embrace it, you'll learn a lot of really interesting and important things about yourself and your relationship to the universe. You'll come out the end of it (there is an end of it) feeling much more enlightened and sure of…

I know it's hard, but try not to listen to those messages. The people I know who married early and tried to lock everything down when they were young suffered a lot. If you're worried about kids, you've got plenty of time. :) I find that I know myself better and am happier each year (late 20s woman).

Sure. Here are the things I would tell my younger self if I had the chance:

Well, we are also changing schools for educational issues, but yeah, the friendships thing is a bonus.

Curitiba, Brazil. It is one of those places where most people live in the same street they grew up in, and they don't tend to like "outsiders" who came from other cities like us. They do socialize with my husband's friends' kids - my work friends don't have kids - and with the kids in our building. It is just the…

I had a quarter-life crisis when I was about your age and it set me on the path to where I am now, which is awesome. But it was painful as fuck. The early twenties are a weird, hard time. But then it seems to get generally better with each year.

Yes, I am hateful because I don't think the mom deserved to just leave her 6 kids at home for 6 weeks because after all, she was abused once. So that excuses all the abuse and neglect she is doling out on her own kids. If only I could be full of love and support for mothers who leave their kids to fend for themselves…

I do, but I live in a city notorious for people being unfriendly and closed off. I sign them up for clubs and activities, I throw birthday parties, and so on, but culturally, kids are not much of a priority in parents' lives here. Their kids are usually made to socialize with their friends' kids, or not at all, and…

I feel like I didn't mentally balance out until at least 27, for one thing. And it took me a long time to just like myself and be comfortable enough in my own body, and I guess I just noticed that I did after I settled in to 30.

For one thing, it makes it harder for my kids to have friends. I am no good at socializing, eek.

I'll be 32 in a couple of months and to be honest? You couldn't pay me to be 20-something ever again.

Based on the number of my friends in the 40-50 range who seemingly turned from fun-loving, humorous liberals into conservative cranks over the span of about six months, I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit on this one.

Yes, yes it is. I feel my value as a person (and as a female individual) depreciating every year.

Oh great, so I am going to be this neurotic, introverted, disagreeable loser forever. Thanks a lot, Tracy.

Bah. You're a youngin. I'm in my mid-twenties and I feel oooooollld. I hate anyone younger than me now. They make me feel bad with their countless possibilities and youth.

I have 4.5 years to change....but I'm a procrastinator so really I have 3 months.

Interesting.

My aunt, who is a highly educated (PhD plus lots of specialized training) practicing psychologist (as opposed to researcher/academic; she's been practicing for over 30 years, too), asserts that we have the option to "fix" character, and it tends to come across different times of our lives.

She says that…