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So my problem is that I have no social interactions. I’m like I don’t even talk to my grandparents. And I’m homeschooled and I don’t use social medias or chat online. I go out only if I need to. The only people I talk to is my family.
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I hate this. I hate myself for being this way. Whenever I see teenagers around my age hanging out with friends and enjoying their time, I’m just stuck in my house striving my best for my education. I don’t have a chance to make friends because my parents always have a eye on me.
My dad says that I’ll realize that friends aren’t important and I don’t need to have fun. He’s just a freak. He mocks me. He doesn’t know how much it hurts me the way he laugh at me. He thinks that I’m exaggerating to be sad over these tiny mocks. But it does hurt me.
All my life, I did whatever my parents asked me to do. Because I thought their decisions would be better than mine. But I’m tired of all this. Everyday, I found myself drowning in my anxieties and I became too sensitive. I get irritated easily and I cry over for no reasons. My life feels dead every single second.
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I jus wanna be like everyone else. I wanna have a normal life. I wanna go to school and have social interactions. I’ve been isolating myself for 2 years and devoted to my studies.
I want a change. But there’s no way for me to have a normal life. My parents don’t understand me. They’re just crazy over the religion and always forcing me to please them. Sometimes, I wish I could stand up for myself like my sister. She’s brave. She doesn’t get much praises from my parents cus she does her own decisions. But I do appreciate her.
How am I supposed to do? I don’t wanna be this way forever.
11 comments
You need to do this:
1. Lie to your parents. Tell them what they want to hear and never open up to them. Dont cause any drama or arouse suspicion.
2. Start formulating an exit strategy that will get you far away. College is usually good for this.
3. Socialise online as much as you can. Video chat makes this easier. Find people with similar interests and start having a social outlet.
Yo I’ll be your friend man hmu whenever you wanna talk about whatever, sorry about helicopter (understatement) parents 🙁
Are your parents Mormon? What do they think will happen if you’re making friends? Maybe join like an ACT prep class in person. That way you can meet ppl without arousing suspicion. Also maybe you could join a sports league of some sort.
Firstly I wanna say I’m so sorry to hear about what you’re going through, especially since you’re suffering in silence outside of posting online. College would be a fantastic way for you to be introduced to more people, is there a sport/hobby you’re interested in joining? I can understand that it can be scary to join a hobby/sport but are there any hobby/video games you enjoy? There’s a lot of different subreddits out there for a variety of things or discord for the gaming side of things. On discord there’s voice chat so you can talk to people and practice and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t matter and you don’t have to talk to them again. I wish you all the best, loneliness is a painful feeling and I hope you can push through, you’re still young so have plenty of time
Ok so first of all your dad sucks. I’d ask about your mom but can only imagine your shitty dad overpowers her
Can you listen to podcasts or is that also out of the question?
What religion is this that doesn’t allow human interaction?
It’s going to be hard as fuck to change. Know that even people that had/have everything you are missing (in terms of social interactions) struggle. You will have a very hard time unless you are naturally skilled. But it’s worth it. Don’t give up. Education is important but humans are social creatures, they need social interactions.
Another commenter said join an online group and video chat to learn social skills. There are tons of subreddits devoted to making friends and finding gaming groups. I’ve never made a really good friend online but I’ve found discord groups I regularly talk in about my hobbies and I’m casual friends with the people in them.
I would also keep this from your parents and if you really trust your sister maybe she could help you find a group as well.
Sad how parents can make it hard for their kids.
Hey hey, that was me for the last couple years- no friends and not even any family.
My suggestion is to either start volunteering or getting a job. It may or may not help you make friends but it will ensure that you develop the social skills that your peers have. It may also help you choose what you want to do in the future (I e. Give you enough motivation to challenge what your parents desire for you).
It’s kind of funny how when we’re young we idolize our parents and feel like they have all the answers. But as we grow older we realize they are just human beings with flaws like everyone else. You seem to have realized this already.
Good luck online stranger, you sound like someone I would like to have as a friend 🙂