Recently my confidence has been getting lower and lower - I'm scared it's going to ruin my life. Last year I left school and started work, but I was so painfully shy that I left after three months. Then I tried a college course, but when the friend I was going with quit I couldn't bear to keep going alone. So now I'm just stuck at home all day, which I know is just making the problem worse. My mum keeps telling me to get another job, but I’m terrified the same thing will happen again. How can I break this cycle?

Susan advises
You can't crack this one alone. You need someone to hold your hand - to get you back on track with study, with work, with life. There's no shame in that; everyone needs other people to get them through, particularly when they hit a brick wall as you’ve done. And, as you say, being stuck at home all day is making the problem worse - you simply lose more and more confidence as time goes on. So you have to act fast.

As you're based in Britain, luckily there's help at hand. The organisation Connexions is a Government-funded scheme that helps young people with a whole range of problems, particularly around getting work. Connexions can advise you on what jobs would suit you, what courses you might need to take, and how to get the right qualifications.

Even more importantly, they "hold your hand" while you do all that. You can talk to a counsellor. You can go into the Connexions office on a regular basis and get help with job applications. You can talk to other people about the problems they’ve met and overcome.

The most important thing you need to do is to crack the isolation and get lots of support. So contact Connexions today and get back on the road.