Coming out of a place like this is surreal, because on one hand, you have been so isolated for so long that the outside world is downright terrifying. On the other hand, you have a huge superiority complex because you feel that you have been bestowed with this "secret knowledge and insight" into human behavior, when in reality, its exactly the opposite.
My first job out of school was working for USPIRG. You know, the hippies that go door to door collecting donations to help fund the clean grass bill, or some such shit. I thought it would be ideal. I'd be the fucking man of la mancha tilting at windmills, trying to make the world a better place. Yeah, well, two weeks into that I said fuck that shit and left.
Reality lesson #1. Activist based employment sucks. Pragmatics come before ideals.
The issue was, people at USPIRG are worked like dogs, and don't make shit. As a result, when there are hang out nights in the bars and such, there is a lot of decompressing and drinking, and rightfully so. So I was there being all bitchy about how fucked up drinking and doing drugs was.
#2: Being judgmental and self-righteous will not win you friends, and will probably gain you some enemies.
I slept with a girl I was totally spun over a few months after I got out, (who I met on the job, actually), and I just didn't know how to handle it. She was my first lay, and I was infatuated with her. I wouldn't leave her the fuck alone. And then, when she wasn't responsive, I said it was her fault and that she was playing a "game". Needless to say, when she moved, she said straight out that she didn't want to give me her forwarding address or new phone number.
#3: Attachment issues SUCK!!!! Blaming your attachment issues on another person who likes you (or at least, used to) and means you no harm is even SUCKIER!!!
I also had some bad depression, which continued into my freshman year of college, but changed dramatically when I transferred and went to a school where there were more social outlets and student resources.
#4: It's ok to acknowledge what you need and go get it. Nobody else will do it for you, and nobody will tell you what that is, because in the real world, people really don't care, unless they are your parents... and most of the time, they're wrong anyway, since they were the ones who sent you to that fuckhole out in the woods in the first place.
I thought I could talk to people like I did in raps, and fully expected them to be receptive. My boss from my second job out had to stop me from confronting the owner when he was a dick to me one time. She said "Are you fucking crazy? Do you want to lose your job?" It never occurred to me I could get fired for something like that. (What? Did I have amnesia? I had jobs before RMA!)
#5: People don't talk this way in real life, and if they do, everyone else will think that you are crazy, stupid or both.
I realized that if I didn't "run my anger", pound pillows in my parents' basement, or sob uncontrollably every week, I was just fine, and nothing bad happened.
#6: Okay, that was a bunch of fucking stupid crap.
