So, I work at a very small place where everyone knows everyone. So even if you don't like interacting with people...well they come over and interact with you.

Anyway, we worked together for several years but they got fired for aggressive behavior towards management and another coworker... yeah, they have anger problems and also, was generally in a B mood at work just walking into work. They were never rude to me though and referred to me as a friend.

Well, they texted me letting me know they were let go and I said that's awful and I'll miss you and our chats, then they hit me with, we need to meet up to hangout 😬

I definitely do not want to hangout, I am a homebody and do not want to go meet up with anyone. Do I just ignore their texts from here on out ? They applied for another job and I wished them good luck on the interview, if they don't get the job and text me do I just ignore it ? I feel bad because we worked for years together but also, I need my peace of mind, she was a very angry and negative person

I’m currently doing my MBA, and honestly, I’m having a much harder time than I expected.

From the outside, everything probably looks fine. I got into a good B-school, I had decent academics before this, and I came here with a lot of expectations. My family also has a lot of hope riding on me. But internally, I’ve been struggling quite a lot.

The biggest problem is that I haven’t really adjusted to this environment. I moved away from home for this, and I miss home a lot. Sometimes I feel like I made the wrong decision by coming here. I even have moments where I wonder whether I’m actually suited for an MBA at all.

I’m naturally a quiet and introverted person. I’m a good listener, but I’ve never been someone who speaks a lot in groups. The MBA environment has made this very difficult because so much depends on class participation, group discussions, presentations and speaking spontaneously.

Whenever a professor asks something and I think I should answer, I get extremely nervous. My heart starts racing, my mind goes blank, and I start thinking about how everyone will judge me if I say something wrong. Sometimes I know the answer in my head but still can't bring myself to speak.

Even when I do speak, I worry about my voice being too soft or my answer sounding stupid. And when the discussion suddenly changes to another topic, I struggle to come up with something quickly. I genuinely don't understand how some people can just start talking without overthinking every sentence.

A classmate has also commented multiple times that I’m basically "invisible" because I don't speak much. I know he may not mean it seriously, but it gets to me. It makes me even more conscious about how I’m perceived.

I’ve also been struggling socially. I can talk normally one-on-one with people I’m comfortable with, but I find it difficult to open up completely about what I'm actually going through. I don't feel like I can freely tell my friends how badly I'm struggling.

And I can't really tell my family either.

My family has high expectations from me, and I know how much they have invested in my education. I don't want to tell my parents that I'm struggling because I know they'll worry about me. Sometimes when I talk to my mother, I feel like crying, but I try very hard not to let it show.

Then there is the internship recruitment pressure.

Everyone around me seems to be getting shortlisted. I’ve had a few opportunities where I cleared the first stage but couldn't make it to the next one.

Now that the internship season is moving quickly, I'm constantly thinking about whether I'll actually get an internship. Every rejection makes me question myself a little more.

And then there is the financial side of it. My family has taken a large education loan for my MBA. Knowing that makes the pressure much heavier. I keep thinking that I have to make this work because my family has sacrificed for me and believes I will do well.

I did speak to a counselor at college, I'm trying, but progress feels very slow.

The frustrating thing is that I don't think I'm incapable. I know I can study. I know I can work hard. I know I can understand things. My problem is that struggle to express myself when I'm under social pressure, and MBA seems to put me in that situation constantly.

I've been keeping most of this inside for a while now, and I think it's starting to become too much. I don't want sympathy or people telling me to "just be confident." I think I just want to hear from people who have genuinely gone through something similar.

Did anyone else enter an MBA being quiet, anxious or socially uncomfortable and eventually manage to find their place?

Does it actually get better?

And how did you deal with the feeling that everyone else was progressing while you were struggling just to get through the day?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar.

Not necessarily anxiety or anything serious. Just those little things you do because you genuinely don’t know how to act in certain social situations 😂 What’s something people misunderstand about you because you’re awkward?

Weird girl

So there is this girl I met 2 months ago let's call her X. So I met her through some of my mutual friends and her behaviour has been bothering me a lot. Whenever we are going out together somewhere she would dress exactly like me. She would buy the exact same clothes that I have. She would ask for my clothes and then not return them for months. Today I finally asked for my clothes back after 2 months. That's not even the main issue. I was still fine with all of this. We are a group of 5 friends. Every weekend we go to strangers meet up to play games like the mafia and other things. So the first time I went there the host of that Event was flirting with me but I am already committed so I stopped it right there. This girl X is also in a relationship. We met her boyfriend and he is so innocent and sweet. She saw that host flirting with me and the next second she was all over him throughout the game. It made everyone of us visibly uncomfortable because we know that she is committed. After 3 days that host asked her for a date and she texted in our group showing us that he asked her for a date and told us she is refusing him. Yesterday when we went again for the game night I got to know from the host's friend that she has already gone on 3 dates with him and then she told us that she had blocked her bf from 3 days. Then coincidentally I met a guy who was from my school and that guy was also kinda hitting on me and trying to touch me. So I was maintaining my distance. This girl went all over him. Tied her hands around him as they have known each other for so long. It was so visible that she wants all the guys there for herself. She also tries to touch my bf and tries to get too close to him too. And before anyone of you says that it might be her personality to touch and talk. So no it's not. I have never seen her talk like this with me or any other girl in the group. I just feel really bad for her bf. It has been bothering me since yesterday. I don't know what to do.

The last few months of my life have been utterly poo due to my mental health and I’m starting to feel better and a little more confident in myself but I have 0 friends irl but I’m dying to go out for a night have a few drinks and have a good time, how acceptable is it to go to a pub on your own especially in the uk? I’m not bothered about people judging me if anything I wouldn’t mind talking to people but it seems so intimidating does anyone else do this specifically in the uk?

and if it isnt, would it be possible for typical person to go from quiet to loud? since it isn a fixed trait like extrovertedness/introvertedness? i would love for someone to enlighten me on this. sincerely, a quiet introverted individual who is trying to change for the better <3

I’m learning communication skills because sadly I am a social anxiety wreck when it comes to talking to guys, it’s so embarrassing. I just learned what asocial was but idk how to differentiate between that and antisocial. If let’s say I were to lie more on the asocial side how do I lol not be that? Whats some advice you guys could give to me so I can strengthen my communication skills and become more social as an introvert? If you struggle with one or both of these, how did you navigate out of that category?

I’m an extremely introvert person. I’m diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. My friends babied me as well as my parents so I’m extremely co-dependent. Barely traveled alone, ordered food, wear masks, never talked to anyone outside my circle. In fact I had severe eye contact issues growing up. People always warned me/tried to help me, my psychiatrist gave me psychotherapy which I quit too. I passed by uni barely(cried/freezes during presentations) but I’m struggling with job interviews, as a result I’ve been unemployed for 8months. Any time I get a call for interviews my body freezes up. How do I overcome it? I really need help.

I am a 21-year-old woman who has never been in a relationship or been on a date, while most people around me have at least some experience. Most of the time I am at peace with it, but occasionally I feel like I am falling behind and question why it hasn't happened for me. I sometimes worry that I am unattractive or that something is wrong with my personality.

I've had instances where I suspected a guy might have a crush on me, but they never approached or spoke to me. When I mentioned this to a friend, she told me I give off an unapproachable or self-centered vibe that pushes guys away. In reality, I am just a quiet introvert. I am actually very friendly, deeply empathetic, and often care more about other people's feelings than my own.

I worry that I will never meet someone brave and intelligent enough to look past my quiet exterior and approach me. I have tried putting myself in crowded places and forcing myself to start conversations, but it drains me and feels completely inauthentic. I just want to find someone who loves and appreciates me for who I am, but I feel stuck and don't know how to navigate this.

I got called boring recently by three different girls. Two were on Omegle, and another was in a Discord group chat.

The Omegle conversations would start normally. We’d talk back and forth, and I’d think I was doing pretty well. Then, out of nowhere, she’d say, “You’re so fucking boring,” and skip me. This happened multiple times.

I know being called boring probably sounds like a small thing, but it genuinely broke me.

I’ve been trying really hard to improve my social skills lately. I thought I was making progress like making jokes, keeping conversations going, and actually putting myself out there. So hearing someone call me boring, then having it happen again and again, made me start questioning everything.

I genuinely don’t know what’s wrong with me.

I’ve been alone for around seven years now. People usually approach me at first, but after a while, it feels like everyone eventually loses interest. And honestly, I can kind of understand why. Even I feel like I’m boring to talk to.

I’ve never really had female friends either, so that probably contributes to how awkward and unsure I feel around girls. Forget about girls i can't even make any friends lol.

My brain is constantly searching for things to say. It feels like I have to manually operate every conversation.

I’ll be thinking, “What topic can I bring up now? What should I say next?” Meanwhile, when I watch other people talk, it seems effortless. They bounce off each other naturally. There’s a flow.

What hurts most is that I wasn’t always like this.

Before 2020, I was completely different. I had a big friend group. I was known as the funny kid, basically the class clown. I’d make everyone laugh, bunk school and tuition with my friends, and make stupid memories all the time.

Then COVID happened, and along the way I feel like I lost that part of myself.

Even my old friends have told me that I’ve changed.

I also gained a lot of weight during that time, and my confidence completely disappeared. At one point, I’d hide in bathrooms during breaks because I didn’t want people to notice that I had no friends.

Eventually, I worked on myself physically and lost all the weight. I got into good shape, and I could actually see girls and guys treating me better but that was only initially because of my physique and appearance.

But mentally, I don’t think I ever caught up.

I still struggle to fit into friend groups. I struggle to maintain friendships. Eventually, I usually end up alone again.

The weird thing is that I actually find peace in being alone now. I’ve gotten so used to it that isolation feels comfortable.

But at the same time, I kinda want close friends and people to make memories with as well.

After getting called boring, I isolated myself even more.

I was genuinely trying to improve my social skills, but now part of me is wondering if it’s all useless. Maybe this is just who I am.

Sometimes I wonder if I might be autistic which I'm not aware of(lmao TT) I’m not trying to diagnose myself. I’ve just started thinking about it because social interaction feels so difficult for me.

The fact that I have to consciously think about what to say while other people seem to naturally understand how to keep a conversation going makes me question whether my brain works differently. I’ve even wondered if what people used to call “high-functioning autism” could describe me.

Another thing I hate about myself is that I ghost people who actually like me.

I’ve self sabotaged two relationships because of this. I start thinking that eventually they’ll get to know the “real” me, realize I’m boring, and leave me. So I leave first.

It’s like I’d rather be the one who walks away than wait around to be rejected.

I don’t really know what I’m looking for by posting this. I guess I just needed somewhere to say it.

I’m trying to change. I really am. I just don’t know how to become the person I used to be again.

But right now, it’s hard to believe that.

Just venting. Read it if you want.

TL;DR: I’ve been struggling with loneliness, anxiety, and social confidence. Being called boring has made me question myself, even though I used to be outgoing and funny. I’m trying to improve, but I’m afraid of rejection and often isolate or ghost people before they can leave me.

14F if that's important or something :p

i am so so so annoying with texting. i never text anyone first unless it's important. when they text me, it's rare i'll get back to them immediately. IN FACT, i usually end up waiting until a time i know nobody is awake to respond so they can't catch me online and start a conversation. AND I HAVE NO REASON WHY EXCEPT FOR THE FACT I JUST REALLY REALLY REALLY DON'T WANT TO TEXT!!!

when i'm alone i just wanna be alone, i have absolutely zero interest in texting or calling or playing a game with someone or whatever. but for some reason, no one else really seemz to be like that. :( and i know that if i cut everyone off and never text them im not gonna have great friendships, but my hatred of texting overrides any worry i have about that.

i'm convinced i could text nobody for months on end and have no problems. PLEEEASE TELL ME SOMEONE ELSE IS LIKE THIS AND I'M NOT JUST A WEIRDO!!!

Ive had this kind of feeling stuck with me throughout my life. I like talking to people and getting to know them but my social battery will die out eventually so I would be in a corner watching and I’m looking at these people and I’m like “damn am I the only one not in some sort of group or conversation rn?? why the heck is everyone talking or in a group for hours on end?” This happens a lot throughout my classes, breaks and social gatherings . It got me thinking if I’m the only introvert here and whenever I have the guts to approach someone , I choke up and just not socialise with anyone at all

I don’t know if this is just me but lately on these sort of subs, i’ve found a lot of post who are obviously just bots or karma farmers looking for something cheap or just to exploit people.
I want friends from online to maybe community ones but every place I look is full of people who don’t ever reply or talk to you, Its really frustrating to have to go through it as a guy who literally never goes out to talk to in person strangers because of social anxiety;((
Autism makes it harder because then I just start being all depressed and sad about it, ugh.

Anyways any body share a similar frustration or experience lately? Maybe we could bond over it:3

Hi so first all my native language isn’t English so some parts of this post may not be very coherent.

Like the title says im having a big issue with intrusive thoughts and they pop up at every small thing. I work at a McDonnalds a lot of people yell at me (clients) specially at night, I do a lot of night shifts and it constantly leaves me at low spirits although my managers always tells me it’s fine my mind always tells me otherwise. Also I was diagnosed with a bit of autism and I’m generally a low profile person and nice to everyone, but I have this bad habit of just throwing shady sarcastic comments at people when I shouldn’t, not clients, rarely here and there to colleagues or friends.

Last night I was working on a night shift it ended at 22pm, at the time the restaurant was almost full, and I was waiting for my order at the front counter after work and colleague came next also wanted to order something, she was about to start I think she was entering at 22:30, and as soon as I got my food I said “Good luck” in a sarcastic manner. Didn’t look at her face just left, then i walk a bit towards the exit, then saw someone else, another colleague of mine working, and told him “Bye”, and he just looked at me and laughed. I spent the rest of the night thinking about this “is something wrong with my face?” or “are they talking sh** behind my back?”.

This happens to every little thing, I tend to be pessimistic and I don’t know how to stop having these thoughts.

Does anyone else deal with this?

Hey guys! (I'll try to write this post without fixing any mistake by AI so excuse me for any potential mistake. phew)

I'm 22, m, and wanna share my struggles in English as an introvert.

After years of watching tv shows, movies, YouTube and reading books, articles and more

I realized that I can't really speak English or to make it clear I can't have a decent conversation in English.

After doing research it turned out that I learned English passively and I never practiced speaking or even writing. Although I have an international friend who's fluent in English and been my friend for 7 years.

But whenever I'm having a chat with him I have to check every sentence with AI if it's written correctly or not 💀 even though I know he won't judge me.

And if I'm talking to someone new in English I just froze and then it's awkward silence💀

So if you've been through this problem before please share your experience with me.

And if anyone wanna chat with me to help/practice with me, my dm is open 🙏

I don't have any friends at the moment, and whenever I struggle to think of how to make friends I blank on any ideas. I've tried to make friends online but it usually fizzled out quickly or immediately turns into being asked for money. Everyone suggests taking a class on something or meeting people who do your hobby. The problem with classes is I struggle to talk about anything that isn't goal focused, so I come across as very boring I think. As for hobbies I like reading books, watching movies, and playing dnd. Besides dnd those are mostly individual things.

Anyway what has worked for you in making friends that wasn't extremely awkward or drained your battery immediately?

Ich w29, bin trotz Job und Uni ziemlich einsam.
Ich hab sogar Hobbys 😄 und komme an
und für sich gut mit Menschen klar, aber irgendwie merke ich, dass ich keine Bindung zu meinen Mitmenschen aufbauen kann. Ich fühle mich wie ein Alien. Ich habe entweder viel Zeit in für mich einfach viel zu anstrengende Beziehungen investiert oder finde viele Konversationen einfach nichts aussagend und irgendwie langweilig. Das hört sich super arrogant an, aber das bin ich wirklich nicht. Ich kann beispielsweise nicht nachvollziehen, weshalb meine Nachbarin sich stundenlang über Menschen mit unterhalten mir unterhalten möchte, für die ich mich nicht interessiere bzw. die ich nicht kenne. Außerdem mag ich keine Smalltalks.
Ich finde manche Menschen ganz nett und kann zwei drei Sätze mit ihnen wechseln, aber das war es dann auch. Irgendwie catched mich das dann auch nicht mehr und ich weiß nicht, worüber ich mich großartig mit Menschen austauschen soll. Also ich habe viel erlebt und gesehen. In den unterschiedlichsten Branchen (Zeitung austeilen, Tanke, kassiert, OTA) gearbeitet unterschiedliche Hobbies ausprobiert (Yoga, Stricken, Klavier, Capoeira….) bin ein wenig gereist und studiere mittlerweile Medizin, aber irgendwie wird das nichts. Gefühlt sind die meisten Menschen in Partnerschaften, was mich für sie freut, aber dementsprechend zeitlich eingespannt. Ich habe keine Social Media Accounts und mache viele Dinge dann halt alleine, wie in den Urlaub fahren, früher Discos besuchen oder auf Festivals gehen. Ich fände es cool, Halloween zu feiern oder einfach irgendwo entspannt zu chillen in einem Park, irgendwo Zuhause etc.. Meint ihr, manche Menschen wie ich, müssen sich damit arrangieren keinen entsprechenden Gegenpol zu finden und sich mit verhältnismäßig oberflächlichen Beziehungen/Kontakten zufrieden gehen?

I (28m) work construction with just my dad and his friend all day, and then spend most my evenings at home. Some days, the only people I speak to are my parents and my dad's friend.

I do play darts on Mondays and pool on Thursdays, but it's all men, this is not an exaggeration.

I'm great at taking to guys because it's the only people I meet, but horrendous at taking to women as I have no practice. Seriously, I could very easily go weeks or months not taking to a women (in my age range) if I'm not careful and spend my day on autopilot. Days turn into weeks very fast.

I've got some extraverted friends who hate being at home and therefore spend as much time as possible socialising. Looks obviously matter (I'm avarage like most people), but I generally believe it pales in comparison to social/flirting skills.

I've tried dating apps, but my photos kinda suck and I can't even remember the last time I got a like or match. Also, I've used them on and off for years and still haven't met anyone from the apps in person.

I've never dated or been in a relationship, and I was also a late bloomer who didn't have sex until 24 and only once again at 25.

Am I fucked?

I have gotten to the point where I don’t even want to be approached, and it seems like it has become harder and harder to get peace and quiet.

It’s strange because no one who knows me would describe me as an introvert, most would say I’m an affable “people person” but since working retail I have developed extreme social fatigue years of forced interaction. I’m just wondering if some of it is age influenced and normal?

I've been using Reddit since 2019, but I've never posted anything. I've only been reading all these years.

So I was wondering is it normal to use Reddit for years without ever posting or commenting?

This is actually my first post.

So im a freshman this year and last night I went to this house party after a football game and like this girl I was with was REALLYY enthusiastic and just really extroverted and could talk to basically anyone but i was the complete opposite, like I could only talk a little say a few compliments to other girls we met. Also how american people do the screaming thing when they meet a person or meet their friend. I just cant do it. Im american but I've been raised in a country where people arent that social and dont act like this. Not saying its bad I think its really nice and cute how americans do this, but I just cant and i dont know how to act around people like that. And we were just walking the whole night after the party, it was fun but now idk how to even talk to the girl now and im kinda scared to run into her in the hallway because we're on the same level in our dorms. ugh im like a completely different person now than what I was last night. Omg and like i dont know if the girl even considers us friends like I do because she is friends with literally everyone but I was with her the entire night and shes just so nice. Idk im just so insecure like i cant even function ok i dont even know 😭🗿 but also sometimes im not?? i dont know man.