Hello everyone, I’m new here and I hope you will be nice to me. My point is the following: I’ve had anxiety forever, I’ve had hard times, I’ve been in psychiatric care etc.; but I’m doing better and I think my biggest issue now is that I have isolated myself socially.
Now, I know I need to do things to meet people, so I’ve started to do bouldering and I’m part of an anxiety self help group and I’m planning to partake in some other activities where I can get to know people. But the point is still: This is all going so slow and I’m just so hungry for social interaction that it is even physically painful sometimes. I get these few little breaks a week now but since Covid was like all work (as a postman) and loneliness for me I’m still alone every evening. And I have been for like four, five years now actually (I’m 35).
So I thought: What else can I do? And I think the issue is that I have a hard time talking to strangers in whatever setting, which is like bad for me in two ways. First: Even when I’m doing new things where there’re people all around I’m remaining on my own most of the time. Second: I feel like I wouldn’t know how to simply go some place where there’s people and to talk to some of them, you know. It’s obviously anxiety still. But I thought it might also be like a matter of practice in some way. I would just love to go to a bar or to go any place where I could just finally be with others right now. But the talking to strangers thing makes me feel like I wouldn’t even know where to start…
Do you have any advice? Also: Do you know a place online where I could get to know people in my area and then meet them (not in a romantic but just in a friendship way)? Thanks for your time!