Making friends

[Renee74]

I lost everyone of my friends when I started home-schooling at the beginning of high school and now my social anxiety is so bad that the only person I really talk to is my mum, and I live with her. I live in a small town where everyone knows everyone and i have no idea how to connect with people that would understand my situation.

[hanami]

Hi @Renee74 

It's tough, hey. I can relate. I had a baby quite young (18) and all my friends were out partying while I was caring for a baby. I lost quite a few friends during that time. Are there any social groups you could join at the library or community hall. They often have craft groups, book groups etc. It's always going to be tough making those first steps when you have social anxiety but the reward can be worth it. 

Wishing you well,

Hanami

[NatureLover]

Welcome, @Renee74 , it's good to have you here 🙂

I can empathise with your situation as I lost 95% of my friends when I had a 3-year nervous breakdown. 

What helped me rebuild was volunteering. You make new friends with similar interests.

Also, like @hanami said, library and community groups could help. If your neighbourhood / suburb has a local Facebook group, they often have events like tree-planting, library groups, social groups etc advertised. 

Also, you could look on Facebook for support groups based on social anxiety, to get started. You sound young so you may not be into Facebook! But I find Facebook very supportive. 

Also, do you have professional help for your social anxiety? Like a counsellor, meds, psychologist or psychiatrist?

A handy forum tip is if you tag someone by typing @ and then clicking on their name in the drop-down box, that person will get a notification and won't miss your reply.

[NatureLover]

P.S. @Renee74  Something else I thought of was typing "social anxiety" into the Search bar above - there seems to be lots of threads on it here on the forums 🙂

[Renee74]

@Nature lovers

Thank you I will check Facebook I am medicated for my anxiety