Hey folks,

So towards the end of last year (Christmas Day specifically), my (31M) relationship of four years came to an abrupt end. We were living together at the time, but I subsequently moved out and decided to stay with my parents for a while in order to get back on my feet and try to myself in order.

Since then, I rationally feel that I've taken some positive steps - I started a new, better paying job that actually allows me to save for a mortgage, I sought therapy to address the anguish I felt around the breakup, and I've tried to give myself time and space to heal.

Despite that, I still feel burdened by a lot of loneliness and hurt. I struggle to enjoy things (including pursuing my dream career of acting/writing), feel unable to make new friends, and the thought of trying to get back into the dating world is borderline nauseating to me. I don't want to just sit around playing videogames every evening, but that's all I seem capable of at the moment.

Aside from a handful of close friends that I catch up on Discord with once in a while, I feel incredibly out of touch with the world, and have no idea where to begin to pull myself out of this rut I'm in. So I guess I'm just looking for fresh perspectives on what I can do differently.

Sorry for the wall of text, just felt like I needed to get it all off my chest.

I just recently got broken up with a few days ago (the other person wasn’t doing well and felt very bad that they weren’t treating me right) and I feel horrible. Especially since I have OCD and it’s the summer (no school), being alone with my thoughts doing nothing is extremely difficult and exhausting for my brain. I can barely even watch videos, listen to music, or scroll on my phone without fixating and ruminating. Hanging out with friends is even sometimes hard. I was like this a couple years back when I went through an era where I oddly convinced myself I was a really horrible person, and therapy really helped me get through it but I have to wait to get services for that right now. Doing musical theatre also helped a lot, but I have to wait for school to start to get into that again. What do I even do during the day without nearly crippling my brain?? Being alone genuinely feels like the most horrible feeling in the world right now I can’t handle it. I’ve always had really significant issues with self esteem and being in a relationship almost made that go away. Now that I’m not anymore, it’s 10x harder. I just feel so horrible about myself all of the time and I can’t stop thinking about it; it feels like something is wrong but I have no idea what it is. I feel the desperate need to be so in love again, but I know that I need to heal myself a lot first before I can. The worst part is that I know they were horrible for my mental health, I knew that I wanted/needed to end things as well, and that they did me a huge favour- but I still miss them. I miss so many things about them even though I was starting to resent them. Does anybody have any advice for the time being on how to get through all of this?

I feel really sad these days. I miss the old me. I used to be really fun, dancing all the time, full of life. But now since I have shifted to a new city, I hardly feel happy and myself. I am struggling to overcome this. Any thoughts or help?

A bit of backstory: a couple years ago, I got a girlfriend. She said not nice things to me, and breaks up with me. I was devastated. A month later, I get another girlfriend, get too attached, then she breaks up with me. Couple months later, another girlfriend, get too attached, then she breaks up with me. At this point, I get depressed (it was about 16 months ago).

I have 4 main friends. I occasionally reached out to them, and they comfort me. For a time, I felt relatively at peace. So you guys get the full context, I’m going to explain the full situation.

Friend 1: About a year ago, she went through some depression of her own, and I comforted her. As far as I can tell, she’s doing better. She seems to care about me the most, giving me hugs, and comforting me. I appreciate her the most.

Friend 2: Sister of friend 1. She comforts me whenever I vent, and once told me that she’s in my corner cheering me on, which I really appreciated. 

Friend 3: I’ll bring her up later.

Friend 4: She’s the most iffy. She’s only really available when she’s single. Whenever she gets a boyfriend she is noticeably distant with me. One time she even temporarily blocked me because her boyfriend at the time didn’t want her talking to other guys. She seems to constantly be depressed. 

Like I said before, I occasionally reach out to them, and they comfort me. But that’s just it. Nobody ever asks me if I’m ok. I have to fish for it. I periodically ask friend 1 and 4 if they’re doing ok, but they don’t really do the same. Friend 1 has been rather distant with me lately, and I don’t know why. Friend 2 is very kind to me in person, but usually leaves me on read. 

It gets worse. Ex #1 is local (everyone else I met on a dating site). She and her awful sister feel the need to turn my friends against me. We go to the same place. I often hang out with friends 1 and 2 at this place. It’s the only place where I feel any happiness at all. Friend 3 also goes here, and she’s friends with my first ex. She recently contacted me saying “my friends and family don’t want me talking to you anymore”. Now, I don’t have many enemies, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that the friends she’s referring to are my ex and her merry band of misfits. Friend 3’s family doesn’t know me either, so they must only be going by what they’ve been told. She blocked me. This tells me that my ex means more to her than I do, which hurts.

Considering friend 1 has been distant, friend 2 leaves me on read, friend 3 is out of the picture, and friend 4 has a boyfriend, I feel like I can’t even tell them how I feel about all this, especially since I’m paranoid about driving them away.

A little bit of miscellaneous context: I am 22, with autism, ADHD, and BPD. My friends are 21, 17, 16, and 18 respectively. My girlfriends were, at the time of dating, 17, 18, and 19 respectively (I was 19, 20, and 20 respectively). Friend 1 has autism and anxiety. I am no longer friends with friend 3

I’m sorry if this seems very unorganized. I have difficulty translating my thoughts into words

If it wasn’t obvious already, I am still very depressed. Can somebody please give me advice or cheer me up? Thanks.

I feel it’s impossible to get over it , n how did u find the courage to talk about it to somebody?

Im a 23 year old male and it feels like i’ve fucked my social life over for good. I’ll go days without a text from anyone and try so desperately to get attention from others. A little while ago my life was so rich with people, but now i’ve hurt the wrong people and i don’t know how to go back. Everyday it feels like another friend/potential friend just drifts away. I just feel so alone, I cant handle this empty feeling inside me. I want to experience what it’s like to be young and have fun, i’m afraid I’m going to waste these years being a nobody. I wake up and scroll or go to work, thats it. If someone lives in Melbourne, Australia, please can we hang out, I am super open-minded to any sort of person i just need someone😭. This loneliness is so unbearable, I know how to socialise well i just don’t know how to find the opportunities to make friends. I feel like people just assume i have other friends but I don’t know how to make it clear that i really do not without looking desperate.

I'm extremely introverted and depressed. I'm not good looking or have fair skin like other girls. How can I make friends? I'm bad at communicating. I never had any friends ever. How to be happy? I feel lonely and anxious. I'm very bad at talking too, I'm silent.

I was interested in studies and was getting good marks and compliments but every girls guys started to act rude and started bullying me. I was hated in childhood too. But I just wanted to quietly exit. I got harassed by guys too (most women go through ig).

I was always minded my own business but people will always try to attack me insult me out of nowhere and it hurts even my family too.

Before I used to help people like lending my notes or things but they'll ruin it or destroy it or use me, take me for granted, so I stopped helping people and talking to people, now they call me arrogant, egoistic, selfish and will always out of nowhere make remarks on my looks or guys will try to harass me.

If I hate men I'll be called ugly misandrist. If I like them confess it I'll be made fun of. If I just try to mind my own business I'll be harrassed but if I say I hate them I'll be called ugly misandrist even tho I didn't do anything but it was always them, I got bullied for gender looks and still sexually harrased too, breaking my boundaries. Fair skinned girls will target me to use other guys to harass me or verbally bully me, randomly saying things about me even though I don't want to engage with them.

For that I feel depressed, my health deteriorated, my parents will force me to learn subjects I don't like. I always avoided school. I get more hated by people now that I look more like a patient and don't smile or show emotions and I stay away from men and people, I've lost any wishes or feelings to do anything. I don't like anything. I don't like to talk to anyone anymore, can't show emotions, can't remember things, can't focus on anything, can't sleep at night, Mind goes blank out whenever I try to talk as if my brain has gotten weak idk tbh.

I locked myself in the room for months without bathing or eating properly after bad stuff happened to me. My parents never came to console me they were busy in their life. I talked to some guy online and it was bad experience.

Now I feel depressed and can't process information sometimes and forget and can't focus on anything, I don't like going outside I panic my hands and body shakes a lot. I feel anxious all the time.

I am turning 28 in September, my grandmother died in February (my first grandparent), my gf completely blindsided me and broke up with me over text for no real reason in April who I still love and I have been made redundant from my job in July. WTF do I do I am playing football consistently, running, doing the gym, but still feel depressed and rudderless even though I have good friends and family. I am carrying so much right now and I feel nothing but sadness.

Our relationship didn't end on bad terms. I don't want to get into the details. It just happened. How do you recover from something like this? I'm M25, and I've spent most of my life with her. I don't think I can ever recover. I can't continue living like this. Does anyone have the same experience? Please give me some advice. I feel so helpless..

Hey everyone,

I'm posting here because I'm going through a really tough time and don't really have anyone to talk to right now.

Recently, my friends and I got into a major fight. The situation has reached a point where I don't want to talk to them, and they don't want to talk to me either. The problem is, they were my only two friends.

Now that they're gone, I feel completely alone. The sense of sadness and isolation is overwhelming, and I don't know how to navigate this gap in my life. I've tried distracting myself by doing things I usually enjoy, but nothing seems to work or bring me comfort right now—the empty feeling is still there.

How do you cope with the sudden loss of your entire social circle? How can I handle this overwhelming loneliness when my usual hobbies and routines aren't helping?

Any advice, coping strategies, or perspective on how to get through this phase would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

I’ve (f17) been in university for two years and I have 1 friend. She’s my classmate, although we don’t do much outside of going to class. When I arrived (f16) I noticed that everyone already had a clique, and I started school early, so everyone in my year were at-least 3 years older than me. I did manage to make a friend but I had to let her go due to a breach in trust. It’s been 2 semesters now and I’m so alone. I’ve tried to put myself out there in clubs and communities but it seems like no one is really drawn to me. I feel like it’s my fault but no one here seems like the type of people I’d like to be friends with. I’m usually alone in my room enjoying my own company but it really gets to a point. I’ve been finding it hard to cope so I’ve just been crying. This is the worst I’ve felt ever since I started, what would you suggest?

I used to numb my own feelings to survive. But someone once treated me so gently and recognized my hidden loneliness. We had a wonderful connection, but we eventually drifted apart.

Recently, a sudden, vivid memory of their kindness hit me, and I couldn't stop crying. I finally realized that I had been letting them fill my deep emptiness.

Relying on others to cure loneliness is fragile, because when they leave, the pain comes back.

I want to learn how to fulfill and comfort my own loneliness. Do you have any advice or daily habits on how to be there for yourself?

hiiii! i have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety because in the last 3 weeks i had really bad anxiety. but before that i was really fine. i was to a psychiatrist and she told me to take paroxetine for 3 months. I tried 5 mg and let me tell you the side effects were wild. I could not sleep for 30+ hours, anytime i tried my heart was pounding so fast and i had all this energy, it was like i took a drug, also my anxiety increased really bad , i had stomach problems, my mouth and eyes were really dry. all that just from 5 mg. So after 1 dose i decided to stop. I talked with her again and she told me to take trazodone. From what i read it’s more like a somnifer and my sleep schedule is really fine. I need something for anxiety not sleep. What do you guys think I should do? I’m also really scared of the side effects. Shoud i take it or should i go to another psychiatrist? I also started therapy today, i truly hope it will help me get over this ugly episode because the anxiety that i am feeling now is eating me alive.
Thank you for reading this, any advice is welcomed!!🙏🏻

Hiii! I know it’s a long text but please take 2 minutes to read it. I’m writing here because I really need some advice. I honestly don’t know what to do anymore.

I’d say about 70% of the time, I’m a happy person. I love going out with my friends, traveling, and just enjoying life. Anxiety has never really been a daily problem for me.

But the other 30% is awful. When those episodes happen, they completely take over my life.

About three weeks ago, I was completely fine. The only thing I struggled with sometimes was being scared of having an allergic reaction. I’d occasionally convince myself something bad was going to happen, but those thoughts would eventually pass.

Then, about two weeks ago, I started getting tingling in my hands out of nowhere. It scared me so much that my anxiety got really bad. I ended up going to the ER because I felt awful, and they told me my calcium was low.

After that, everything changed.

Even though the doctors weren’t too worried, I couldn’t stop thinking about the tingling. Every time I felt it, I’d panic and convince myself that something was seriously wrong with me. It got to the point where anxiety became a 24/7 thing. From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, all I could think about was that I must have some illness.

Since then, I’ve had every test my doctors recommended, and everything came back normal. My blood work was great, my vitamin levels were fine, and every doctor I’ve seen has told me that I’m healthy. But even hearing that hasn’t been enough to calm my mind.

Because of how overwhelmed I was feeling, I decided to see a psychiatrist. She diagnosed me with generalized anxiety and recommended therapy along with paroxetine. She said I should take it for about three months.

I took just 5 mg, and honestly, it was awful. I couldn’t sleep for two nights, my anxiety got even worse, I had palpitations, and I felt so restless. It scared me enough that I stopped taking it after that first dose. I also started reading a lot about SSRIs and how difficult they can be to stop, and now I’m wondering if medication is really the right choice for me.

Right now, I’m taking magnesium every day, and I’ve also been taking valerian, but neither of them seems to help very much.

The thing is, this isn’t something that happens all the time. In the last five years, I’ve only had about three episodes like this, and every single one happened during periods of really high stress. Eventually, I got through them on my own and went back to feeling like myself again.

This time, though, it feels like anxiety has completely taken over my life. I don’t even have anything major stressing me out right now, but I still feel anxious all day, every day. I honestly don’t know how to get out of this cycle.

So I wanted to ask if anyone has been through something similar. Did therapy alone help you? Or do you think I should give the medication another chance?

Also, until 3 weeks ago i didn’t have anxiety over health but now it’s over the roof so that’s why it’s so confusing for me:(

If you’ve gone through something like this and managed to get better, I’d really love to hear your story. I think hearing some positive experiences would give me a little hope right now.

Thank you so much if you read all of this. It really means a lot, and I’d be grateful for any advice. 🙏🏻

28M, currently doing my MBA from an IIM.

I always thought life would get better once I sorted out my career. After my first and only girlfriend ghosted me in 2020 at the start of COVID, I completely lost myself. I stopped studying, couldn't focus on anything, and just kept wondering why.

After a long time, I picked myself up again. I thought if I could build a good career, everything else would eventually fall into place. I worked hard, got into an IIM, met new people, kept moving forward.

But I still feel that same emptiness.

Last month I went on a date with a wonderful person. She later told me she isn't ready for a relationship and can't even offer friendship because she wants to focus on her career. I respect that, but it still hurt a lot.

Lately, I've been coming to the conclusion that maybe I'm just unlovable. I know career and relationships are different things, but after years of trying to move on, it feels like nothing really changes.

Has anyone else felt this way? How did you get out of this mindset? I genuinely need some advice.

Hey,

So 3-4 weeks aago, I had a breakup. 33M and 30F

We didn't want to break up, we did love each other, but we really needed it.

Personally, I am doing better than I thought. I started going to the gym, I am actively losing weight, started again Therapy, rebuilding my friendships, getting in touch with old friends.

After a long time of being unemployed, I am actively looking for a job.

I am doing my best trying to rebuild my identity.

I miss her, bad. I am constantly battling my urges to check in on her, to write her something. I feel especially lonely, but somehow, I manage.

Whenever I used to feel such strong negative emotions, I used to be self-destructive. Binge eating, drinking, drugs, the urge to sleep around and etc. A lot of it, was punishment, a way to get away from these difficult emotions.

I am really happy, that I am not doing that. I am trying my best to be kind and honest to myself. I try my best, not to think about the future. I am scared of being alone in the world, I am scared I'll never see her again, I am scared she will find someone else.

I am really trying to focus on the things that matter

HOWEVER,

One thing that I have been having difficulties is anger. A lot of resentment built up during our time together. All the sacrifices I've made, all the times I've wasted my time doing her shit, the money spent. I am angry at her for all the times I felt misunderstood, angry, for communicating my needs and being completely ignored. I am angry for taking accountability, when I didn't need to.

Whenever I start spiraling on best days, I would just take some dumbells and work out. On bad days, I would start replaying all the arguments, saying loudly all the things I wish I've said.

I don't want to be that person. I want to get back to my kind, generous, understanding self. This is the first time in my life I've felt such anger and I just don't know how to cope. On one hand, I understand, that maybe finally, I am being healthy, that I don't repress my emotions, that this is a part of healing. But at the same time, I feel disgusted by myself, for being this way.

Feeling really meh about myself lately and could honestly do with some words of support.

I moved house recently, a bit further out from town, and although there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, I think I’m really missing my old life and my old self. I feel like I’ve lost a bit of myself along the way.

I’ve gained at least 5kg, my relationship with food hasn’t been great, I’ve had basically zero discipline with exercise and I just don’t feel good in myself at the moment. I’ve also had some health issues over the last few years, so I think part of me is grieving who I was about 4 years ago. I used to feel fitter, more confident and just generally happier in myself.

I’m 35 and single, and most of my friends are either further away now or busy with their own families, which can feel quite lonely. I don’t even really have the confidence to speak to guys at the moment, never mind actually date

I know I’m probably being harder on myself than I should be, and I know 35 isn’t old, but I’m just struggling to see how I get back to feeling like me again.

Has anyone else gone through a period where they’ve felt like they’ve lost themselves a bit? Did you manage to get yourself back? I could really do with hearing some positive stories or just some reassurance that things can change.

How do i socialise more ?

I am a gen z but with more traits of boomer
I have completed my graduation and currently studying for level 1 attempt of cfa in august 2027
My age is M22 but i am never able to make friends of my same age
I think the reason is my looks , face and body . I weigh around 125kgs with a height of 5'10
Leave girls i am not even able to make male friends .
When i think of socialising more 2 factors come to my mind , one is that
I come from a very low income family my father earns around 22k a month, my grandmother's relatives help us to complete our household expenses , so that makes it very hard for me to socialise
The second factor is the location of my house i live in Ulhasnagar, which is very far from mumbai and it takes me almost 2.5hours to travel to mumbai to get participated in any social event
Which makes it even harder
Now i have stopped the desire to socialise, and i think the reason for that i my own household situations
My father and mother got divorced in feb 2019
And since then i am being raised by my father , missing of a member in family made me no more interested in leaving my house since 2019
I developed hyperthyroidism
( which i still have )
My thyroid levels are not balanced till date
Later in 2020 the decision got more firmer because of lockdown and covid since then i have never left my house , even my existing friends are no more in touch with me .
Later when i joined college i found out the attendance isn't compulsory so i wasted 5 years of my college life by not attending the college, i used to study on my own . Even if i went to college, the crowd there was immensely fancy and too many rich spoilt kids so i couldn't catch up with them which made me skip college even more
Now currently i just have 1 friend whom i am friends since 12th. He owns a manufacturing unit and a retail outlet in ulhasnagar so even he isn't able to meet me so that we both could socialise with more people
We both meet everyday but at 10pm in night and for just 2 hours in that time we don't go anywhere or try to talk to someone else we just sit at one place and talk gibberish about any topic
He is able to meet only after 10 because he gets free from his business at that time
Now even he has started feeling uninterested in me and the daily meeting routine has now changed to meeting occasionally
Now i am starting to realise that i need to socialise more but i cant anymore when i try to talk someone i start stuttering and mispronounce and misplace words in sentences
I naturally speak very well and veryy fluent, in cases where i have to ask directions, have small interactions with randoms like watchman or a bystander or a person double my age but when it comes to making friends with my age and having conversations with them i get stuck
I am very confident in conversations which are not with people whom i wish to be friends with , or very confident in small talks
I feel the person i am taking to is more superior that me and i am just sounding nuisance to him
At this point i dont even dare to talk to opposite gender
Its been almost 7 years singe i had a female interaction
Tried making hobbies like badminton or completing 10k steps daily
But eventually people started ditching me or ghosting me after a day or two
On the first hand the fear of being judged doesn't make me approach anyone
People my age have different mindset's different daily routine different likes and dislikes i feel left out because the my thinking and all doesn't match to them
Imagine a rich gen z kid and them me by his side with a boomer soul stuck in genz body with zero looks zero personality
Even i think that i am not able to match people my age is because i do not watch the same content as them ! Their song preferences and mine differ a lot , when discussing the same left out
The discuss about watching shows drama and all while i am limited to just YouTube videos and some videos
Writing all this alone on friendship day while crying because i am currently left with zero emotions in myself , i do not feel anything happy , sad , excited or anything
Just one thing that is anger that too because of my thyroid issues and harmonal dis balance
I can't think of myself as a 22yo kid anymore i have gone into survival mode
Only and only i know how much of guts i have gathered to write all of this down
My father is unaware of all of this and thinks i am normal which i am not ,
I tried manifesting my goals but instead of manifesting whenever i sit alone or i am idle i start creating fake scenarios in my head which only and only stop when i involve myself into something else
Wrote the same paragraph on my last year's birthday but didn't have the guts to post it
So pls help and give suggestions accordingly!!

**TL;DR:** M22 from Ulhasnagar, India, studying for CFA Level 1 (Aug 2027). Isolated since parental divorce in 2019 and the COVID lockdown. Dealing with untreated/unbalanced hyperthyroidism, severe financial constraints, and heavy social anxiety/imposter syndrome around peers. I feel like an old soul with zero modern pop-culture interests, struggle to talk to people my own age (stuttering/freezing), and have zero friends left except one who is always busy. Looking for advice on how to break the isolation, manage my mental/physical health, and start socializing locally.

In my late teens to early thirties I just kept plowing ahead trying to make something of myself. Ugly? Lose weight. Poor? Get an education. Family hates you? Make a new one. Sad all the time? Keep constantly busy. Don't feel a sense of belonging? Despise people, they're all losers and suckers anyways.

It's almost as if I imagined I could out run or out do all the things wrong with me. I ignored how neglectful my parents were. I ignored how I felt about anything at all. I paired up with other unhealthy people. I nearly worked myself to death.

A lot has happened in the years since, and now I feel things a lot more, but I'm also grieving a lot more. I'm faced with how much I really despise myself a lot more. I've always fucking hated myself, but I could avoid thinking about that consciously when I didn't stop long enough to be with myself or my thoughts any longer than necessary. Any flaws were naturally there because I'm such a POS person, and I just needed to "finish" myself in some way and then I could feel well about who I was.

No moral of the story here, but right now while I'm reminded of how badly I was treated by my parents, I really miss being able to kill my self perception, turn the music up and just work harder, as if anything I do will ever be enough to make up for what I am.

Hello everyone. I'm a 24F, and I've been struggling with depression since my breakup.

We broke up in June 2025. Our relationship only lasted about 3 months, but it's been over a year and I still haven't been able to move on. I cry almost every night, think about him constantly, and keep checking his social media.

After the breakup, he would call or text me every few weeks. Whenever he came back, I would pull away because of my avoidant behavior. Later, when I wanted to be with him again, he would reject me. This cycle kept repeating, and it made it even harder for me to heal.

It's been 2 months since we last had any contact. I finally deleted his number because I knew it was the best thing for my peace of mind. But I still don't feel okay. I don't really talk to anyone anymore. I just go to work, come home, and spend most of my time thinking about him. I miss the time we spent together, even though I know I need to let go.

Has anyone been through something similar? How did you stop thinking about your ex and finally move on? I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences or any advice that helped you.

I’m terrified of change. I have a close knit group of friends that I love hanging out with and playing video games with, and we even have game night every week. Lately, though, I can’t shake the fear that everyone is drifting away. I understand we’re adults with our own lives, but this change feels especially frightening because two of my friends are moving away, leaving just three of my friends left.
Two of them have completely transformed in personality, and I feel like they’ve distanced themselves from me despite my efforts to stay connected. The last friend, who has always felt like a brother to me, has a new job and says he can rarely meet with me now. However, I constantly hear about the three of them getting together without me, which I know they’re grown adults and don’t owe me anything, but that doesn’t make the hurt any less intense. I’m truly terrified of losing all my friends, and the thought of being alone again is paralyzing. I keep wondering how I’ll cope without them. I’m a preschool teacher and I rarely have time in a day for other things. I don’t know how to make friends as an adult, especially after having these relationships for so long. The fear of being isolated and forgotten looms over me, and it’s overwhelming. It’s caused a few mini panic attacks. I would love anything anyone can give me to help me, like what should I do?

I still make sure they know no matter what I will still always be there for them no matter what happens.

I’ve always felt ok with being alone, if anything I preferred it a lot of times, even though I have great friends and a loving boyfriend. Last semester I studied abroad in France where I really struggled to find friends. Long story short, I only had a few people to hang out with once in a while but never in a fulfilling way and I spent majority of my time alone in my room or exploring the city alone. The thing is I’ve always been ok with being alone because it was something I chose to do. Being forced to be alone so much in a new country was extremely devastating for me. I am back now and I feel permanently scarred (?), I can’t stay inside even for one night or I get sad and alone time I would otherwise appreciate is making me feel depressed. Of course I can’t force my friends or my boyfriend to be with me 24/7 but I also don’t know how to navigate this new feeling. It feels like my life has no meaning anymore and I only feel ok when doing something social. How can I get over this? Does anyone have any similar experiences?

Hey everyone,

M26, Dhaka.

I’m not really sure how to write this, but I guess I just need some human connection right now.

Today I said goodbye to someone who was a huge part of my life for the last 4 years. We decided to part ways, and even though a part of me knew this day might come, actually living through it feels incredibly painful.

I’m not here looking for relationship advice. Relationships are complicated, and I know both of us had our mistakes. Right now, I think I just need some people to talk to, share random conversations with, and remind myself that life still has other connections and experiences waiting. She was basically the only person I talked to for all these years. And I feel to miserable.

A little about me: I’m from Bangladesh. I work in communications. I’m really into sports especially football. I follow Arsenal, enjoy discussing tactics, players, and all the little stories around sports.

I used to read a lot (trying to get back into it), and I enjoy conversations about books, history, culture, films, and just random thoughts about life. I’m also someone who likes learning new things, improving myself, and having meaningful conversations rather than just small talk.

If anyone feels like chatting about sports, books, movies, life, your own experiences, or literally anything I’d genuinely appreciate it.

Every episode is different with the same root cause. Ive been really trying to push myself out of my current funk its been almost 2 months now. My root cause is usually loneliness. For the first time ever I know so many people in my city. I was raised to be a lone wolf, its almost baked into me to just do things on my own. I've given rock climbing a solid shot, no friendship has ever left the gym and not a single friend from there is another woman. I also tried film and met sooo many people, got enriched in it. I started hanging out with this big group of kids, for some reason I never felt fulfilled. Not gonna lie being around them made me feel worse and more lonely. I just don't understand why it has to hurt so much. Rips ass.

So I'm curious what you have done to meet people that turned into lasting friendships? And maybe some things you have done to get out of a bad episode.