Why the title? Well, I live at a lake, with very few people living at the same place save for the elderly and the retired. Not that I've got anything against elderly or retired folks, they just don't tend to want to be chums with a 22 year old.
A typical day for me is like this: I wake up, struggle with morning anxiety, take my med and then come upstairs to use my sister's computer and talk online for a while. Then I go downstairs and spend hours watching movies or Japanese animation, debating with myself all the while about whether I really want to work out today. I have dinner, come back to the internet to chat some more, then I cope with my night time anxiety and go to bed. Wake up the next morning, repeat.
My therapist has suggested to me that I need more social interaction in my life. Just about all of it right now comes from my family or from the internet (this forum is a big part of that). I'd have to drive 25 miles to get into town and do something really productive, such as volunteering or getting a job. I think I'm going to go with volunteering as I'm not sure I could handle the stress of a job right now.
I could go to the library, but that's not really a place for talking. I could go to the mall or something, but approaching a random person and starting up conversation is a pretty absurd idea to me. Generally they wouldn't want to be bothered and I wouldn't want to bother them. Perhaps through my upcoming volunteer work I'll make some friends, but I'm nervous even about that, as to volunteer I'll have to spend pretty much the whole day in town until my dad is ready to go home from work.
I tried the whole bar scene, partying thing once and that turned out to be a huge waste of time (not to mention hazardous to my health) and effort. So, in my situation, I'm wondering... how does one make friends? I haven't tried in a while and I'm not sure if I'd even be any good at it. I get really nervous talking to people I don't know and it takes me a while to open up.
Well, I'm kind of frustrated with myself about this whole situation. I think that making friends and having a social life would help me, but I don't know where to start and am not sure I can work up the courage to really talk to people. It's kind of a depressing and lonely feeling.
Well, sorry for complaining so much. Just wanted to get that out there... maybe someone has a similar situation, maybe one of you has come through a similar situation and managed. Any advice is welcome.
God bless you all,
Dave