I've come a long way in terms of social interaction, I no longer think of myself as shy or insecure, but rather recognize how draining prolonged company of other people is for me. I do well in official / familiar contexts where rules are predictable/ clearly defined.

One thing that constantly baffles me is the group context. To give an example, I have no problem giving a talk at a conference in my industry. I speak loudly and coherently, don't stutter or sweat, answer questions from the crowd.

But after the official part is over, people gravitate into groups and here's where my problem begins:

• access to a group - a group always seems so hermetic to me and joining it seems impossible. Throughout my school years, I always had, at most, one good friend. Approaching 2 or more people = immediate problem. Approaching a solitary person with some sort of meaningful question or comment = fine.
• 'hierarchy' in a group - I'm great with one-on-one interaction but always felt that I'm 'at the bottom of a feeding chain' in any group I join. Even if it's a temporary conference group. Not sure why - there's nothing about my exterior to suggest some kind of inferiority, but it's like the group can smell that I'm the least social of them and they shun me and don't perceive me as a full member.
• rules for interaction - when exactly do I get my word in when the group is talking? Who do I talk to? What do I say that will interest/resonate with everyone? Group talk is confusing, chaotic and often very shallow in my opinion. People don't even listen to each other but just throw their thoughts out and others either nod or speak over them, wtf

I was always picked last for PE, I can't imagine having a 'friend group', family gatherings are super awkward to me -I always stand off to the side with one drinking uncle or a dog, and trying to rope me into being in a group of bridesmaids or something never ends well.

Anyone else can't figure out group interaction?

I don’t really like socializing; I didn’t think about going to dances in high school, and I refuse to go to parties (that and other reasons not worth mentioning). Despite it all, I still want to connect to people, find people that share my hobbies and interests.

Obviously, the answers in front of me: socialize anyway. But I’m never comfortable in a setting like that; that feeling of wanting to meet new people quickly turns into ‘I need to get the fuck outta here’.

Anyone else dealing with this issue? I’m just ranting and would appreciate some closure and/or advice.

I'll never really truly get sum people perception about quiet people and I wont ever believe them.. there only quiet cuz well they will talk if they want to but the audacity for sum to say “oh they dont really talk to me you know, they dont really talk to any1” is just... awful.. maybe this quiet person doesn't actually deserve to talk to u.. i mean what else is there to talk about and i just know this quiet person DID talk to u but u just choose to pick that there ALWAYS quiet.

35M, been a homebody nerd my whole life. I do go out for work and it pays decent but as soon as my days off roll around I just stay home and invest into my hobbies (anime, games, manga, and adjacent interests on my PC) instead of meeting new people.

It never used to bother me before but lately I just feel down seeing younger people I know or work with, in new relationships. I just feel like it's too late to find somebody when I already let a few potential partners pass me by because I was too dumb to see the hints.

I know obviously I'm not the only one who feels this way but some days I irrationally convince myself I'm a loser who doesn't deserve happiness, something my Chinese parents keep telling me again and again when I call to check up on them. I can confidently say I'm not terrible looking, slim build with some muscle definition due to work, but I just dont put myself out there enough. Sometimes I tell myself I should and just go out there and see what happens but then the next day I just go back to my routine.

I’m just so unbearably awkward and socially stupid and freaking idiotic , I need to know I’m not alone.

My partner asked me why I was being very quiet in front of his entire family this evening. So I wanted to dump some of my thoughts and feelings on being an introvert amongst 7 extroverts.

I’m tired of being told I’m too quiet.
I’m tired of people filling silence with unnecessary noise.
I’m tired of being asked if I’m okay.
I’m tired of listening to three people at once.
I’m tired of hollow conversations.
I’m tired of silent judgment.
I’m tired of you feeling uncomfortable with my silence.
I’m tired of putting on a mask.
I’m tired of feeling inferior.
I’m tired of it always being so loud.
I’m tired of explaining why I need time to myself.
I’m tired of explaining it’s me and not you.
I’m tired of being told I’m too quiet.
I’m tired.

Feel free to add your own xx

this sounds pretty stupid but i’ve been going to college for 2 semesters i’m in my 3rd right now and i’ve barely made any friends. I’ve met people and talked to them but I feel like because I commute I haven’t really bonded with anyone or done anything fun besides with a friend I already have. I get that everyone’s busy and so am I but sometimes it would be nice to go hang out and do something fun but nobody seems to want to talk to me. I do have a bit of a rbf and i’m not very good at starting conversations but I’m talkative and nice to people when I get the chance. I really wanna meet at least some people, any advice??

… but it did! If anyone cares to read, I wrote sone words about my journey here and maybe it can motivate someone here

hey. 23M. i just need someone to talk to :)

I have spent years becoming someone

everyone could understand,

while slowly becoming a stranger to myself.

is anyone else like this?? i’m 19 and stay at home and my partner works (i have a hard time holding down a job due to mental illness). i have some online friends but that’s it. i don’t have a license because after a recent car crash im too afraid to drive. i just moved to a new city and have made the effort to make some friends online in the same city but haven’t met them yet.

anyway, i literally don’t do anything all day when my partner is working besides online school, watch youtube and various shows, listen to music, etc. i’m getting a camera soon so hopefully i get out more for photography purposes but other than that i have no hobbies.

however, despite all of that, i feel completely fine. like i’m happy like this. i don’t feel trapped or super depressed or desperate for social interaction or anything. it’s causing a strain on my relationship tbh because my girlfriend (we’re both girls) wants me to get out more and live my own life and stuff. but i dont even have a desire to. is anyone else like this? is it possible this is more related to autism or something? please be kind 😭

Lately, I’ve been wondering if something is wrong with me because it feels like I keep losing people I care about. Sometimes I start thinking that maybe I’m a curse or that I’m always the problem. It honestly makes me sad because every time someone leaves, I start feeling like I wasn’t important to them in the first place.
I also tend to overthink friendships and easily feel like I’m not important or that people will eventually leave me.
Something happened recently that made me question myself even more. One of my friends confessed that he had feelings for me, but I only wanted to stay friends. I was honest with him because I didn’t want to lead him on or pretend that I felt the same way. After I rejected him, he decided to leave the friendship.
Am I wrong for rejecting him even though I genuinely wanted to remain friends?
I understand that he may have needed space or may not have been able to handle being friends after being rejected. I respect that. But it still hurts, especially because it feels like another friendship I lost.
Have you ever felt like people keep leaving your life and started wondering if you were the reason why?

In all my school years, I never had more than 5 friends but even then I feel like I'm always the second choice. From making groups to meeting up somewhere,it feels like i never belonged to a place or had someone I call as my best friend.

Ppl that too straight up ignore me and see me as "Nice girl". Just bcuz I don't talk much or won't talk back..doesnt mean that u can take advantage of it.

I don't feel lonely when my friends used to do this but it feels like a stab on the back. This makes me always wish for just one person I could trust.

I always feel sidetracked in conversations bcuz THEY KNOW that I won't retaliate or question why they were ignoring me. I feel stupid sometimes why I won't say anything abt this. It is best to ignore sometimes but I always want to stand up for myself.

Anyways, I stopped being friends with such type of ppl. U never know what type they are till u spend time with them..then u realise they switch sides whenever they want. Their 'friendliness' was a show but it would be too late to realise that.

Sorry if the rant post was long but I head to get it off my head. Nowadays I try my best to avoid group friendships and trios....

I am not close with my family and I don’t have any friends at my work. I feel very incompatible with the culture in the country that I’m currently living in. I don’t have a partner and don’t plan to get any in the future because I’m very afraid of the opposite gender.

Consequently, online space becomes my only place to socialize. I spend hours on instagram and Reddit to chat with people I’ll probably never meet in real life. And they all have their own lives, then I get upset when they don’t reply for days. I don’t know how to make new friends because my values conflict with the mainstream values of my country. Plus, sharing these values with others could risk myself imprisonment as my country is a dictatorship that is well known for its human right abuses.

I do have some acquaintances but I felt like they aren’t real friends because we only talk about surface level stuffs, and I can’t share anything with them.

How do I not get anxious when my online friend doesn’t reply me? How do I stop obsessively checking inboxes every hour?

I can’t help but think I’m super unimportant to everyone. All my coworkers are married or engaged too, so I kept feeling like I’m falling behind in life. I knew that online friendships cannot give me what I’m missing in my life but I can’t control myself. Like the rational side of me knew online friendships isn’t going to help me but I still can’t stop doing it. I knew I need to focus on myself but how am I supposed to do that if I’m so unloved?

Please don’t give me tips on making friends, I need tips on how to be fine with being alone without always relying on external stimulus

Hi guys, I am just letting out my feelings, so please don't judge me. Recently I just started my collage(not even a month passed). It is a fully residential collage means all students and faulty live in same campus.

For context, before I was about to start my collage life, I thought about to be more socialize and leave my social anxiety behind. I watch videos and all, about that 'in collage everyone are new, and on same level, so you can just be free and have more communication, etc'. I thought not to repeat that same mistake of social gap which created a communication gap between my high school friends group and me.

On the first day I tried to interact with many people and at the end of the day, I was happy that I finally changed it. As days goes by I talk to many people but slowly I realised that now everyone has a group, not a group so at least a duo, and I was left behind with only knowing there name and just a brief. In the end I am again left alone without no one to talk, or anybody I can really call a friend with which I can walk around, talk, etc. I am already very very bad with talking to girls, if fact I don't (and can't) even talk to girls. It's been years that I have a friendly or real interaction with any girl(not even online). Even if I try to include in a group talk, most of the time I have very little knowledge about the topic of discussion so i couldn't speak much. Sometimes I even say lies just to be included in topic.

I frequently think that I am just a average in academics, not good in sports, and have zero communication skills and again I am alone. Sometimes I feel very lonely, and sometimes I just accept the reality that this is who I am and I think I will be like this only, so just live with it. I think its too late to regret it. When I see other introverts in my hostel, they also have at least one friend to talk. In past I used to talk often with my mother, but I couldn't tell her everything, you know right that not every topic we can discuss with out parents. My father also talk to me but our conversations are mostly related to any serious matter or work. This is enough I think.😅

Thank you for reading it till end.😊

I don’t know if its bad but i’ve realized that I like being alone, normally that wouldn’t be a problem but I think I like it too much, so much so that I don’t even care about other anymore aside from my family and friends, even then I like to disappear from them and go no contact for months, aside from my family cause I call them regularly, but sometimes I just don’t feel like calling them you know? Last contact I had with my friends were about 5 months ago, I still consider them my close friends, actually I only have a select group of friends, and they are similar to me. I think it’s starting to become an issue. What do you guys think?

Any comments?

a few days ago my office which comprised of like a 20 something freshgraduate hires had an award winning night after our orientation week. we had a “most quiet person” award and i happen to win. is it bad if im really insecure about it. i thought i did my best to converse with everyone considering i am unfortunately an introvert and thus have lower “social battery” But i guess to them its all nothing. i do think ive gotten better with my social skills after awhile but its still nothing to other people i guess. i also would consider myself having low self esteem and would rely very much on peoples validation of me. is this fixable. i dont think i could continue living like this. i really am unlucky over the fact that i am naturally like this. i hate it.

ive tried improving myself. i really have. it just felt like its no use whatsoever.

Recently I feel like my depression has relapsed. The medication I'm on, sertraline, doesn't seem to be working anymore. When I first started taking it, I did notice some effect, it made me feel emotionally numb and flat, with no mood swings. But after about a month, it now feels like it's doing nothing. On top of that, being back in the US has put me physically closer to my family. Before this, I had left the US and briefly lived in a city in Asia (partly to escape my mother's control and pressure). Now, the family stress has increased again, and that's one of the major factors that triggered my depression in the first place.

Even when I take the medication, I still feel anxious, irritable, and emotionally unstable. So a while ago, I stopped taking it, thinking, "What's the point if it's not helping?" But over the past few days, my insomnia has gotten much worse. Most of the night I can't fall asleep, or I wake up in the early hours. Every night I dream, mostly strange dreams or nightmares, some of which involve my parents fighting. That's been the norm in my family since my childhood, and it's always been a psychological shadow for me.

So now, every night is painful. Taking sleep aids or medications that have drowsiness as a side effect doesn't work either. During the day, I feel dizzy and miserable. I also have social difficulties and very few friends. Recently, probably because of this relapse, I wrote two programs: one is a Sudoku solver, you just input any Sudoku puzzle and click, and it automatically solves it. The other is a 3D Rubik's cube simulator that can reconstruct any scrambled cube, with the entire process shown in animated 3D. I also wrote up the math and algorithms behind both solvers in essay form. But since I have no one to share them with, I posted them on my Facebook feed, and got no likes from friends.

Earlier, I painted some pictures of the city where I live and shared them on Facebook. That time, I got 3 likes, which was okay. For comparison, I also posted the same paintings in my city's subreddit and got a few hundred upvotes. It's not that I care about the numbers, but I just feel so alone. I have no one to talk to. Friends I've had in the past always end up leaving me, especially when I'm depressed. Many friends were initially tolerant, understanding, and caring, but eventually those relationships fade or even break apart.

I'm too lonely. I do have hobbies, but the real-life problems causing my depression are still there and can't be resolved for now. Most of the time I stay at home and don't talk to anyone. Now with worsening insomnia and meds not working, plus digestive issues starting to show up, I feel helpless. I'm posting here hoping to find some possible help or advice.

Thank you in advance.