I have no friends!

[FrodoFitz]

I have bad anxiety. I find it incredibly hard to leave the house sometimes incase I see someone or I have to talk to someone so it’s easier to not leave. I study remotely too at university but my course is back to face to face lectures. I’m petrified. I was bullied lots during high school and college and I have no friends, I find it so daunting. I’m very lonely too, I feel isolated most of the time. Any help?? How do I make friends when I’m too socially awkward? 

[Megs-]

27 minutes ago, FrodoFitz said:

I have bad anxiety. I find it incredibly hard to leave the house sometimes incase I see someone or I have to talk to someone so it’s easier to not leave. I study remotely too at university but my course is back to face to face lectures. I’m petrified. I was bullied lots during high school and college and I have no friends, I find it so daunting. I’m very lonely too, I feel isolated most of the time. Any help?? How do I make friends when I’m too socially awkward? 

Hi there, it’s lovely to meet you! Thank you for explaining what’s going on for you right now, It’s very brave of you ️.

Firstly I just wanted to say, that’s it’s a huge thing to explain what’s going on for us and especially if it’s something that we’re anxious about telling others. So a huge well done! 

Someone who lives with Anxiety 24/7 I can 10000% understand where you’re coming from. I know it’s easier said than done but, it’s different for everyone, when you do bump into others what do you feel? You don’t have to reply but I am here for you!

How I tend to respond to my anxiety and panic attacks is by taking little steps, what I mean by little steps is I take one step at a time, for example I go into fight or flight mode so I have learnt over the years how to manage and understand when I’m going into that phase.

what do you enjoy doing? What’s your hobbies? I like makeup and animals. I love swimming and music! Also Disney. If so, do you feel comfortable searching up groups for your age range online in your local area to maybe go like once a week to try and build your anxiety, to a better place? Even if you go to the door and be like no this is to much that is TOTALLY okay, it shows your willing to take that next step into getting past this.

Do you feel comfortable going out with close friends or family? I know you mentioned you have been bullied in the past, and I can relate. But you know what? Don’t let the bullies make your life hell! You deserve to live a fulfilling and happy life, without people pulling you down to their level. How did it feel when you wrote this message, do you feel able to express how you’re feeling? 
 

how’s Uni for you? Is there any groups there that you can maybe join even if it’s online? Sorry if what I’ve said don’t make sense I try my best massive hugs  

going to tag the support mentors who can help you better than I can ️ @Digital Mentor

[Aurora]

12 hours ago, FrodoFitz said:

I have bad anxiety. I find it incredibly hard to leave the house sometimes incase I see someone or I have to talk to someone so it’s easier to not leave. I study remotely too at university but my course is back to face to face lectures. I’m petrified. I was bullied lots during high school and college and I have no friends, I find it so daunting. I’m very lonely too, I feel isolated most of the time. Any help?? How do I make friends when I’m too socially awkward? 

Hi @FrodoFitz, I've noticed that you are new here so I wanted to say a huge big welcome to the community. It's lovely to have you here . I'm Aurora and I am one of the support mentors here at Ditch the Label. If you ever want to talk about something in confidence then you can also send us a confidential support request. Just click on the confidential support tab at the top of the page and one of the support mentors will get back to you. 

Thank you so much for opening up about what's been going on for you. I know it can be difficult to reach out and I'm really glad you've found us. I can see that @Megs- has already given some great advice. I can totally understand why going back to face to face lectures seems really daunting at the moment. What do you think of Megs idea of breaking it down into little steps? Sometimes when we have  a big change ahead of us it can feel really overwhelming. Breaking it down into little steps can help us to feel less overwhelmed. Is that something you'd like to try and do? If you like we can support you with this.

Also, do you mind me asking, does that university know that you have anxiety? They might be able to help you with this and support you with going back to face to face lectures. What do you think? 

I'm really sorry to hear that you were bullied lots during hight school. Bullying is never OK and it's only natural that you are finding it difficult to make friends now. When we get bullied it can break the trust we have in others around us and it can make finding new friends more difficult. Please know that you didn't deserve any of it! Can I ask, have you ever had a safe space (such as counselling) where you could talk about and process what happened to you during high school?