Paranoid, Scared and Alone

Geno

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new to the site. In fact, I just signed up yesterday. I signed up because over the last year or two I've become terrified of interacting with people my own age. I'm constantly paranoid about people thinking that I'm a loser or a weirdo, or that I'm unattractive looking, and because of my paranoia I'm in a persistent state of fear. I want to be myself around other people but it's like my body just won't let me. I stutter, blush, sweat and act a general fool whenever anybody asks me a question or tries to interact with me in any way. I can't connect with anyone and I feel like everyone else is speaking an entirely different language than I do. I feel like such an outcast.

Back to my social problems. I can be funny sometimes, really. But no one else thinks that. It's like, I don't know, whenever I strike up a conversation with someone I feel like an actor who's just been thrown out on stage in front of a sold-out crowd and I don't have a single damn line to spit out. I'd love to join a club or something and meet people my age who like the same kinds of things but I'm paralyzed by anxiety. I'm such an awkward mess and I feel totally worthless and alone. Every single day. Alone. All I can do is just read a book or listen to music to try to find something I can hold onto in my pathetic little existence.

Since I started University I've lost contact with, like, 85% of my high school friends, and I haven't had a girlfriend since my senior year. In fact, I haven't even been on a single date since we broke up. I'm pretty sure everyone just thinks I'm a loser and that I have no friends, and I guess they wouldn't be far off the mark. My own sister doesn't give a damn about me and my mother and father don't understand how I feel at all. For instance, when my grades started to slip last winter and I told them that I thought about dropping out they called me down to the dirt. I've, in the past, talked to parents about my depression and suicidal thoughts, and when my father started yelling me into the ground he actually told me that "I wasn't scaring anyone" and that I should hurry up and kill myself if I thought that much about it. I immediately broke down mentally and was inches from the door when my sister and mother came to me, crying, and begged me not to leave. So that's been somewhat of a burden on me since then. That happened in March. I'm starting to consider his advice.

Also, my mom isn't much help either. She's a really devout Christian and we don't see eye to eye at all. Every conversation I have with her boils down to faith and that doesn't do anything for me. I guess I've become sort of nihilistic since high school. It's not like I enjoy not having a belief system, I just can't figure one out. There's just so much suffering everywhere I look that I can't justify believing that a god, or that the universe in general, has any interest whatsoever in any form of life. I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all.

If this were an ordinary day I'd have tried to make this post a little more cohesive, but I just can't do it right now. I tried to split it into paragraphs to make it a little easier to read. If anyone gets to the end of this I deeply thank you.
 

DeadmanWalking

Well-known member
Geno, you're putting too much value on the thoughts and opinions of others. What they think of you doesn't determine who you are. I've been called "lazy" by my mother numerous times and that "I don't want to go outside and do nothing". In reality, I'm just really practical and don't like to exert more effort on something than is really necessary and I'm deathly afraid of people. And yet I still try to get along with the world. That may not have made much sense::eek::, but my point is that your thoughts and your opinions are the most important when it comes to you. If there's something you find wrong or lacking in your life, then work to change it. Maybe getting out there in the world is too much for you right now. If your university has a counseling center, you should go visit it. If not, try making friends with one of your teachers and coming to them for advice. That's usually what I do.

Welcome to the forum and, remember, this is your story. You ultimately decide what will happen and how it will end. No one else. I'm sure that you have it within you to turn your life around:).
 

Silatuyok

Well-known member
You say your sister doesn't care about you and your mother doesn't understand you, but they clearly do if they would come crying to you to beg you not to leave. And though your Dad's words may be harsh, it sounds like he is speaking from a deep-rooted concern for your well-being.

Is there any way you can try to reconnect with some of your friends from highschool?

Perhaps you could try interacting more with people who aren't your own age, if that is easier for you. Can you join a club outside of your university, with a more diverse age group? Or perhaps do some volunteering to help get you acclimated to being around people, or maybe work with children?

I understand how you feel when you say you are paranoid that everyone thinks of you as a loser. I have felt the same way before, but I can assure you that it is an entirely irrational thought. Most people do not spend their time trying to locate and identify losers. I'm sure that all these awkward vibes you think you are giving out are probably just going unnoticed or unacknowledged. People in general tend to think that everyone else has their sh*t together, unless you are showing up for class in dirty clothes and smelling like you haven't been showering. I know it's too easy for me to say, "just stop worrying about it," but that is kind of what you need to figure out a way to do. Start finding ways to build your own confidence and self-esteem. There are tons of ways to do that. You can google for ideas, or ask and I'm sure people around here could give you some pointers.

Welcome to the forum, btw. :)
 

OceanMist

Well-known member
I can relate to most of this. I don't care as much what anyone thinks anymore, but that Christian thing is something that I can relate with.

Nobody in my family is Christian except for me. It bothers me when I hear that I am a sinner and "need to get right with God?" Whatever. I didn't choose to have this shyness, it's not like I wanted all this.

I do believe in God, but that doesn't really help with anxiety. Anxiety can take away the desire to socialize. To tell me that I'm sinning by not talking to people is just counter-productive. From my own experience, talking to people can be worse than not talking to people.

I am a Christian but I think Christianity has some faults. The church expects people to be perfect and refuses to understand what it's like to have an anxiety disorder or be gay (no I'm not gay, that's just an example). Their solution is just a simple "find God" thing that doesn't really get us anywhere.

It's kind of like the "don't be shy" thing that so many people say. It's like, um okay, i've been trying not to be shy for a long time and it hasn't worked out, you think maybe the shyness is kinda hard to control?

I think the homosexual thing is a good thing to compare SA to. People usually are born into being a homosexual, as many people are born into shyness. I was one of those born shy people. To tell me to not be shy is to tell me to not be me.

I'm tired of hearing the "be yourself" crap. What if yourself is shy? And don't tell me "the real you isn't shy."
 

Silatuyok

Well-known member
^Not to get too far off topic, but I would argue that Christianity and the Church are two very different things. Don't worry about what some religious institution tells you, because each one will tell you something different, and who is to say which one is right?
 

Daniel089

Well-known member
Welcome to the forum Geno!

Guess what, I'm 23 and I don't have friends either, just "buddies" at the university. And I never even dated anyone before, I'm not confident at all, and I'm a really introvert type and not outgoing at all, but I know I have to change in that so I won't give up on social life.

I'm also having a hard time finding something to believe in, I mean I'm afraid I do have a personality disorder of some kind, but my social phobia isn't that serious (confirmed by an expert), I just need some help for that which I will get for sure now. In the same time I got to find reasons to hang out with others, or to do activities with other people, which will be hard.

But I know something: people won't just pity you and get to know you, you have to act and make progress. I'm having a little problem, not so many things motivate me to be among other people, but at least I'm pretty sure I don't want to stay a loner for long now, like I was for many years...
 
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OceanMist

Well-known member
^Not to get too far off topic, but I would argue that Christianity and the Church are two very different things.

Yes, this can be true. I guess what I meant was I hate it when a fellow Christian's advice to me is to either read the bible or get right with God or stop sinning.

It's usually someone who doesn't even have an anxiety disorder.

They try to simplify something that is a personality. It's kind of like telling an outgoing person to not talk so much.
 
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