Coolness; I'll look into it. Might have some old Geology or Earth Science textbooks buried around here somewhere from my lackadaisical homeschooling days. And got some mineral flashcard/quiz thingies. Supposedly I used to be really into science and greek mythology as a little kid; I don't really remember much of anything before I was twelve though, just have the stories and old photographs/scrapbooks. Been able to piece together some of the memories. Parents left my room just the way it was; that's kinda helped....feels kinda surreal living in a little kid's room though. Want to master self-hypnosis to gain access to my repressed memories and throw open the floodgates of my subconscious mind.
Get some books on archaeology and anthropology, topics that cover ancient civilizations and how they developed over time through several long stages of technological development, Stone Age to Bronze Age to Iron Age to modernity. These eras were much much longer that a lifespan, as humans figured out gradually how to use and further develop these technologies, which in turn made it possible to reach the next level. But it took many many many generations, thousands of years, for humanity to build up this ability.
You can take classes to help you develop some of these old technologies that are no longer used. You can learn flint knapping, and how to make a bow and arrow using simple hand tools, for example. Classes can be available, as well as books that can guide you in a self-study. You can take classes in bronze casting and black smithing and blade smithing and wood working as well, so you can learn these skills, but it will be with modern technology in most cases. Again, you can learn simple and ancient techniques like sand casting for bronze and silver. There are still people who do this and can teach it. You need to understand that how one works iron and steel is fundamentally different from how one works copper and bronze and silver and gold. In your lifetime it is absolutely unrealistic to think you can wander off into the wilderness and figure this out for yourself, especially if you think you are going to mine and smelt the raw metal from the ground with simple stone tools. That will never happen.
Read about the composition of Earth, it has a crust some hundreds of miles thick, then a mantle that is molten or semi-molten that is thousands of miles thick, then a solid core of iron. You cannot possibly mine through that. No humans, with the highest technology, have ever penetrated the crust and reached the mantle. And if they did, the heat would be so high as to melt everything and kill everyone who went down there.
Books are your friend. Read many of them, there is a lot of information to be had.
I second Chris's thanks for sharing some personal details, it does give me perspective on where you are coming from. It sounds to me like you do not need a therapist so much as you need a psychiatrist who can prescribe meds as well as give other therapies. Those are tough issues, thank you for sharing, and all the best to you in working on them.