I, (F23) have moved to an entirely new state on my own for a job about a year ago. I’ve always had issues having conversations with people and making friends but it’s become even more apparent now. I try to talk to my coworkers and mutual friends but beyond a surface level conversation it doesn’t go anywhere and always feels strained. I often find myself disinterested and not participating in daily small talk, and only chime in when I find something interesting or have information to add. Most of the time, I wouldn’t even know what to say even if I tried.
I’ve also tried taking arts classes outside or work and going out and talking to people but I still haven’t been able to make any friends really…
Whenever I do try to chime into conversations I feel like I’m frequently judged, and people don’t have the same responses to me as they do to others. I feel like I can’t be myself around anyone, and even when I try to act more like how I think people want me to act, I can’t really go past small talk.
It’s starting to seriously affect my mental health, and I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong and I’d like to improve my ability to firstly be able to talk to people, and also be able to connect and maintain those friendships with people.