Hello, thank you for reading.

So, I am not in a good place mentally at the moment, even posting on r/advice about how to get my life together because I just feel like I'm in this pit and I'm not sure how to get out. I also posted about this on Facebook. A friend of mine who used to go uni with me saw the post and we got to chatting. She ended up asking me out on a date. At first, I figured she meant as friends but no. I asked her directly and she is adamant that it's a proper date. Apparently, she's going through some of the things I'm going through and thinks that maybe we could support and help each other through it... by dating and seeing how it goes.

Now a large part of me wants to say no for several reasons. Firstly not in the right mental state to make anyone else happy. Secondly, there is a fair age gap. Thirdly, part of me feels like this is a pity date. If it's not a pity date then I have to actually consider being in a relationship with her and I'm not sure if I want that or if it's just my current issues playing up. I also know that when I am going through a phase like this I can be pretty... reckless(?) with my decisions and jump into things (last time I entered a boxing match).

Another more selfish part of me wants to say yes because. We do get along very well, tend to talk and chat pretty often (even if we don't hang out... I mean who hangs out at 30?). I'm also pretty lonely at the moment and this could be a nice distraction I suppose. I know these are not the right reasons to go on a date with a person, especially as I am looking to settle down.

Should I go and see how the date goes? Or should I just stop it right here and now? I know I should just stop it, it's the right thing to do, but at the same time I feel broken and I just want to forget that for a bit.

tl;dr I got asked out on a date by a 24f friend and I am debating as to whether I should actually go or not.