Socail Anxiety and Stable Friendships

Hi,

I have had my ups and downs with social anxiety, and it tends to make it hard for me to get closer to people, especially large groups of people. I also have been finding that I always seem to attract people who are having a rough time and going through their own struggles of anxiety and depression themselves. While this can be relatable, it can also be hard to live with all of them at school.

At least half of my friends in my social group at school have depression and are up and down a lot, and for me that can be hard because: 1, I want to help everyone get better since I am taking many steps to do better myself, and 2, I find that sometimes their moods can be contagious. So even though I try to take distance when I think necessary, I feel as though I am missing out on building friendships. But I have also decided that they may not be the best friendships for me since they are constantly negative in their conversations and are not at a point to recognize their struggles and create change.

So I guess what I am asking is does anyone else with social anxiety find they have these kind of problems? And if so what kind of advice to you have for making friends? I have been expanding my horizons a bit and am involved in many activities on campus and have met many people that are better off, I just feel kind of stuck in the middle of keeping these friendships and trying to move forward. I also don't know if I would find the same problems around other people, and if I would pull away from any other friendships like this.