I've been trying to get good or at least adequate at poker for almost a year now, read books, read articles, taken notes, watched videos, watched live poker, played against people and computers and I'm still atrocious at it, I can't even beat the lowest stakes. This is something I desperately want to get good at and due to an unfortunate change in my life circumstances I feel it's the only way I can make a life for myself that I choose and not reluctantly settle for. Now though, confidence is at an all-time low, both in my poker abilities and in life, so I'm leaving it for now (hopefully).

What I want to know is: has anyone else taken a hiatus from the game completely and come back to it to become better and far more successful in the end?

I could really do with some inspiring advice, now is a bad time for me.

Why don’t you just get a subscription to one of the sites to learn better poker? Grind micros until you can beat them then move up? Part of your break can be studying.

Taking breaks or a vacation now and then is important.

Poker is not the only way you can make a life for yourself.
If that is your reason for playing I doubt you'll make it.
Poker is hard, a lot harder than you think it is. You need a really strong foundational reason for playing if you want to make it.

There are always other options.
Honestly, those other options are probably going to be easier (but still hard) and grant you more success than poker will.

Gambling while being depressed is a terrible mistake to make in life. Take a break and work on yourself.

Yeah this is how I feel about your post as well.
Go see a doctor if you need help. Or just a coach or someone you can talk to.

I think it's normal to get frustrated and tired from poker when you are losing big. Personaly when I enter a big downswing, I play alot less and doing some other things that I like( going out with friends more often, working out, going out with my bike, watching movies, reading books, to name a few). I like the game but there is a whole lot more to do in life that will bring you more joy and happiness. Don't live solely to play poker because you will get depresed and lonely at some point if you start to loose( and you will, believe me!! )

I'm still in the middle of what's now about an eight year hiatus, when there's a fun form of poker with traffic I'll be back

find a mentor

I took a break from Poker for about a year and a half and focused on bettering myself. I went to the gym and worked out everyday, lived a very active and healthy lifestyle, spent time doing things that I wanted to do. I'm a better person because of it. I've adapted Poker around my life, not my life around Poker.

I came back with a different perspective, and the realization that I will never "Go Pro", but that's okay. I can accept that Poker will be a fun serious hobby for me that I love, and I do well enough to have a bit of extra cash in my pocket.

Find something outside of Poker that gives you a purpose. If you focus solely on "trying to make a life for yourself" with Poker, you're gonna be disappointed because "the dream" we all have of being Poker Pro's is almost never a realistic one. I'm not saying it's an impossible thing, but it is a very difficult mountain to climb.

As I've said before, as soon as you turn something into a "Job", you start to hate it.

Hope this insight helps a bit!

yes

Good poker is about discipline. If you cannot beat micro stakes, you are playing too many hands and not folding enough. Discipline is imo the single biggest reason micro stakes players lose consistently. The idea that you can call that 3x open with 37s cos "it's just 6 cents" stops people from sticking to solid ranges preflop and puts them in terrible places post.
You are a beginner. Accept that. Start again.
To beat micros, get a solid preflop hand chart for opens and 3 bets, and stick to it like glue. Do not deviate from it, not once. Do not ever limp; either raise or fold. Every hand, no matter what. The only times you should ever call pre is when three bet or all in. Play this way until you have a profit at the micros, and playing a solid starting hand range as bet or fold will make you money at micros. Post flop, bet your good hands and semi bluffs, but fold to aggression especially on the turn and river. Do not bluffcatch, the population at micros hugely underbluffs. Bet big with big hands. Players here will not exploit you. After you are winning, then you can make adjustments to this very basic strategy to increase your winrate in some spots.
If you cannot play like this at the very lowest stakes; if you are still limping in, or calling because your hand is pretty but not good enough to 3-bet; if you are still paying off big turn and river bets with 2nd pair because "he could be bluffing", then you lack the discipline to get good enough at poker to support yourself at it. It is that simple, and that difficult.
After a few months of this solid poker will become a habit. Then, and only then, is it time to learn how to play properly.
Good luck.

Do you find enjoyment in teaching others and helping them?

You could do this find a person or persons and teach them what you know about poker.

It will improve your game. Also helping others in other areas cures depression.

Seems youve set the bar quite high given your lack of experience and study. The learning curve is so far above you that its basically invisible to you.

Yes i have taken breaks. The most important was a stretch from early November 2021 to the end of January 2022. I didn't gamble a penny and it was definitely the right move. Eased my way back in with much tighter game selection guidelines. Now i find myself in more tourneys (my best format) and less cash games. If im playing games i suck at its almost always micro, with a slip here and there.

I ve took months off of poker sometimes and told myself that that's it i give up but i always seem to come back to it and i ve noticed i am a little better at it each time i do, so the moral of the story would be to take breaks every now and then but if you really want it never give up.

The one of the reason to play and study poker is cause you love the game. If you go into this as a way to make a ton of money, you're making a huge mistake. The vast majority of people that go pro are either playing recreationally or love the game so much that they can't do anything but live, breath, think poker.

Lots of good advices here ^^^

It is hard to beat rake ..