They say friends made in college last a lifetime. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have graduated from undergrad recently about their experiences with dealing with that feeling of a lack of social support, especially physically, since leaving college. You’ve become so close to a group of people, whether classmates, professors, or staff for four years and then abruptly after graduation, you don’t see those people anymore. Friends or even yourself, move to different cities. Just like that, your physical social support system is gone. That transition before you make new friends at your respective locations doesn’t compare. It can leave a feeling of helplessness. I am lucky that I have established a support system here in LA, for the most part. My issue is with asking for help, but that is a whole different issue. I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the past few weeks without those people, but I definitely understand that transition. You feel helpless without you social support system physically there, but not hopeless knowing in reality friends and family are still there for you and are a phone call/Skype/email/text away.
~Natasha