connecting with people

[dancingintherain]

wondering if what links with social anxiety is the feeling you can't connect with people? Because I remember way back in Nursery I had no friends. I kept away from everybody. Also wasn't close to my family. I felt too absorbed in my imagination.. I had never made a friend myself, I waited for people to make friends with me
But many didn't accept me which makes me socially anxious

(feeling anxious) I hope this post isn't stupid..

 

[Kiwong]

I have always been the same people initiate connections with me not the other way around. I did have friends until high school, but that is where I was bullied, and withdrew further from people.

 

[ridicule]

I think most of us are introverts, extroverts do not have these sorts of problems. I literally can't connect with anyone, maybe due to introvertedness, but also because I'm just too different than most of the people around here. My only suggestion is make do with on the internet or move to a more applicable environment.

 

[nothingtofear]

I've had immense difficulty connecting with people my whole life. There are people I feel every reason to connect to, I understand them and what they've gone through in a rational sense but I don't feel the emotion of empathy or the emotional connection that I want to. I've been extremely withdrawn and even if I like everything about someone and they like me, that's not enough for me to become their friend or establish any kind of a bond with them, even if I want to.

One person I know, who seems similarly detached from everyone, is autistic. I can't know if he really lacks connection to people to the extent that he looks like he does or he just doesn't show emotion and the connection isn't as visible as it is with other people. Regardless, it's interesting to me that the wikipedia page on Aspergers Syndrome looks like it was written largely about me. Many aspects of it relate to my various characteristics (including SA) but particularly my extreme difficulty connecting with people is relevant and that's really why I'm posting this.

I don't know if I've got Asperger's (haven't seen a professional about it) or what the deal is but I can definitely relate.

 

[nothingtofear]

In my life, I've been close to 6 people, including my parents who I was only close to as a little kid. I wasn't going to count them but I'd be lying to say that I never had that bond. Of the 4 that I was going to count, only two have been in my life for a very long time and only two are really part of my life continuously and to those two friends (my only close friends) I feel like I'm close but far at the same time if that makes any sense. I respect them, I trust them, I'd be lost without them, I know them extremely well and they know me extremely well... and yet I feel very distant to both of them.

So I'm very distant from the only people I'm close to, if that makes any sense... ok well that really doesn't make any sense but I'm hoping you get what I mean

 

[Quiet Angel]

It's easy for me to connect with people who are pessimistic and/or dysfunctional but nowadays I detach from them because I don't want to suffer from their suffering. Because of being so introverted, overly self-concious, and extremely anxious, it's hard for me to establish friendships. I feel like I'm not smart enough to have a conversation with someone and I notice that it's hard to keep a conversation flowing. Maybe it just requires practice, I don't know. Being alone is nice. But sometimes lonely.

I hope one day I can have more friendships that are healthy. Friends who are empathetic, supportive, and enjoy my company. Guess I just have to work on myself... easier said than done...