I’m retired early at 35 and haven’t worked since before I was 30 (injured veteran.) While limited, I had a fairly functional external life pre-rona but since then my ex I was with for a decade left at the end of the pandemic and I hadn’t been around anyone else my people muscle has atrophied.
I’m bad with people because I’m not around people much, but I’m not around people much because I’m bad with people. I’m bad with people because I’m not around people muchbecauseI’mbadwithpeoplebecauseI’mnotaroundpeoplemuchbecauseI’mbadwithpeoplebecauseI’mnotaroundpeoplemuchbecauseI’mbadwithpeople
AHHHHHHHHHH
How socially isolated are you from the public? Do you NEVER see another person (ordering food online, never leaving the house, etc) or do you avoid people and conversations (buy things in stores but use self checkout, go shopping at off times) or do you do everything “normally”, just don’t approach people or get approached?
While I do think that interacting with people you know and with strangers online exhibits sociality, it’s not the same as face to face interactions with a stranger, so figuring out where you stand is useful, because then you can think of the baby steps you need to expand your abilities, your range, your tolerance.
Yeah I mean really I go the store and doctor and shit (mostly) fine I just can’t talk to people “in the wild” lol
What about it is most concerning?
Do you worry you have nothing of interest to say? Do you think you just “come off as weird”? Do you struggle to keep up with conversations that happen in realtime? Do you think people hate you?
If it’s some combination, what leads you to that conclusion?