Photoshop elements 18 unresponsive

I've had elements 18 for about a year now. At first it was fine, slight learning curve. Lately it has become extremely unresponsive. It's extremely slow to load. trying to navigate through it seems to freeze up. if i leave it alone for a bit it will eventually move but then the minute I try to do something else i get the same problem. It has become nothing but frustration. I'm upset I wasted my money. A program that's been around this long, at this price, that it supposed to be the best should not become basically non-functioning for no apparent reason. there is no technical support that i can find other than the forums. HELP!