Anxiety about contacting my friends (Social anxiety)
I am desperate to reach out to my friends as I wish I could tell them whats going on with my depression so I could get some support from them. But I feel too anxious and bad about myself to contact them becasue I don't know what to say and I don't feel I have anything to offer or deserve help. I am also anxious about the fact that, once I message them, there is pressure to respond promptly and keep up the conversation and I don't feel confident in my ability to 'keep up my end of the bargain' and have interesting things to say or be there for them. So it feels easier and safer not to message them, even though I'm desperate for contact and the social isolation I'm experiencing makes me feel so much worse. When I try to message people I write stuff, get upset and panicked and feel sick, then delete it and don't send. My social skills and sense of self have disintegrated and that makes it so hard. Any advice how I can overcome this?
Hi, l wish l had some great advice for you. But l think you should take the chance and just reach out. Forget everything else and just let things flow, and be ok with the outcomes. Everybody is dealing with something and you are not alone. I wish you the very best.
Hello! I do understand what you’re going through, i think that you are really brave to ask for help about this situation. Maybe you shouldn’t tell your friends about the way you’re feeling, because they might not understand in the way that you hope they will. I think it would be better to talk to a family member or an adult that is familiar with this sort of stuff. To try and help with your Social Skills, you should try and boost your confidence up. It took me a while to find some confidence in me, but i found talking to people online and just talking off the top of your head in general. It might take a while, but keep persevering :D
@xcharlottex45 I think you're right, I did try to explain my feelings quickly to someone and they didn't seem to understand, maybe they thought I was being weird. And they just tried to offer generic advice about trying harder and told me I'm wrong to feel alone, I should just reach out. I wish it was that simple! Talking to close family members daily has been helping with my cofidence in speaking though :)
How about you write them a letter?
@creativeNickel7334 I was writing letters to people I couldn't see due to lockdown last year in march - July but kinda tailed off. Maybe I should start that up again!
Do it! You got this