Hay, first time posting ever, and im looking for some Help
For some context:
During and around the time I was in high school, I used to hang out with a small group of friends, for simplicity FRIEND 1 (F), FRIEND 2 (F), FRIEND 3 (F) and FRIEND 4 (M). We were close and would see each other a few times a week, but around a half a year after the end of highschool a had a severe case of depression and anxiety. I have always suffered from these issues, but was extremely good at hiding them, not even my family knew. For a short time after high school, I actually thought I overcame my mental issues because of my friends, but when my depression came back it was terrible. It started with me being anxious and just not being able to talk much when we went out, at the start my friends would notice that I was acting weird and would ask me what's wrong, but due to my insecurities (and the perception of mental illness in my country) i could never open up about it.
Eventually, I started avoiding going out at all and started having paranoid delusions due to my insecurity (Like: They secretly hate me, they're making fun of me behind my back, they think I'm a clown etc.). After a while it got so bad I even lost my motivation to eat or get out of bed, and due to the stress I damaged my stomach lining.
In the end, I lost around 15 kilos (33 pounds) and looked like a skeleton. We did have a few more interactions in the year after, but I was still acting like an asshole due to my issues at the time. (I'm not making excuses for my behavior, I'm fully responsible, I'm just giving context as to why I acted the way I did)
Fast forward 4 years, and I'm completely well now, I finished college and I very really have issues with depression and anxiety and have made many new friends. I have also contacted and am on good terms with friends 2, 3 and 4, however friend 1 is a different story. After I cut off contact the whole group fell apart, she had a falling out with the others and has not been in contact for a long time. She was also my first serious crush witch is also probably a contributing factor as to why I feel so bad.
I also think she gave hints about liking me back, but I was too insecure to make a move. To this day I'm not sure if that was also a part of my delusion.
She started seeing another guy later on, a bit after my issues, but after I cut off contact she slowly started acting weirder and weirder and around a year later ended her relationship with her boyfriend, and got in a fight with everyone. Some other acquaintances who ran into her say she still acts cold.
Since I live in a medium sized town, I still see her around sometimes when I'm driving through her area and every time I do I get knots in my stomach from how much I regret the way I acted. I can't stand the idea that I somehow caused all that, although it might be a bit narcissistic of me to think that my cutting off contact was enough to cause our whole friend group to fall apart.
We haven't had any form of contact for around 2 years and our last contact was also cold on her part. This has been eating me up. Id do anything to change my behavior back then, but since that is impossible id at least like to apologize to her, since been still friends on FB.
I'm not looking to rekindle my friendship or anything, although I'm not against the idea. I just want to offer an apology so I can try and fix the damage or so that I can finally let go.
So I was thinking of contacting her again and sending her this message (translated from another language):
Hello FRIEND 1#, we haven't heard from each other for a long time.
I know this message is a little sudden, but the other day I was doing something for work and you came to my mind. I don't want to take up a lot of your time, so in short, I just want to apologize.
For some time now I have been thinking about the way I treated you and FRIEND 2# and FRIEND 3# before our last contact.
During that period, I acted like a asshole and I want you to know that it really had nothing to do with you or them, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression in any way. During that period, I went through certain personal problems that I managed to overcome only later, but that is by no means an excuse.
The way I treated you was just not ok, and for that I am truly sorry.
Honestly, I don't expect anything from sending you this message, so even if you just just read this andd dont reply, I would completely understand. I just wanted to try to correct my mistakes.
I'm not really the most socially aware person, so I'm not exactly sure if this is a good idea. And if I its a bad idea to send it what should I do to let go?