I'm in my late twenties and haven't had a job before. I've been mentally unwell since I left college and suffer from OCD which stems from a phobia, depression and BPD. I do regret not trying harder and wasting almost 9 years doing nothing, but I feel I've been working to manage my illnesses. I got my first volunteering job this year and I would have been proud, but all people say are, "is that all you've done/are doing? Try working over 40+ hours a week!" I'm sick of judgemental people. I'm on benefits for my illnesses and all people do is look down on me and assume I'm just "lazy" and useless. Why is my self-worth dependent on being employed? Why am I useless and worthless just because I don't have a job yet? Literally nobody wants to be unemployed. I hate being restricted from what I want to do because of my illnesses. A "friend" keeps sending me links to therapy because he's another one of these people that hate unemployed people and think they're "scroungers." He thinks I'm not as ill as I claim because I'm currently not in therapy. Anybody living in the UK and relies on the NHS knows how difficult it is to get therapy here. I'm sick of people treating me like shit just because I'm unemployed. I hate that I need to be working, have a car and have a house to be a "mature" adult. These kind of people are why I still hate myself and have low self-esteem. 

I guess I'd just like some support and validation.