I'm 37m now. I was with my first gf from age 18 to 24. I was a wreck for years. I didn't go on a date for at least a year. I didn't have sex for 2 years. I didn't get into another relationship for 5 years.

We had kinda been circling the drain for a while, so it shouldn't have been a surprise at the time, but I didn't know any world without her and I was scared to end it.

Looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, but in the moment it was awful. I was a depressed wreck for years.