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[Rolan7]

I've had a few very decent conversations with my, ex.  We're back to being friends again, like so many years ago.
And... it's occasionally hard not to throw myself at him.  The very thought...
Not this time, though, not this time.

The conversations we have are so bittersweet.  I enjoy them, but he makes so many innuendoes, and it's so tempting to play off them...  <sometimes I even do> but... no.  Dammit...
Storms, give me strength!

[misko27]

My ex has taken to avoiding me, apparently, which I am perfectly ok with. I did want to stay friends actually, but if it makes them uncomfortable they can do whatever they want. I'm kind of impressed at how much I don't care, actually. I think everyone else expected me to be super uncomfortable (and some people have told me as much), but I had a whole summer to get over it... and I just, did. I mean, you would think someone deeply depressed would have a problem, especially when the other person broke up, but honestly I just moved on. It helped that I had already been considering various potential reasons to break up, but I was still pretty broken up about it at the time.

But then I just moved on! Weird. Why can't I do that about anything else? I'm still beating myself up for not doing domething I didn't want to do and decided against, but this is the thing I find easy? I mean, cool, I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Felissan]

Spoiler: Don't quote (click to show/hide)

During the last holidays, my antidepressants were extremely effective and I felt like I was finally out of trouble at the end - but now that school is back, I just can't wake up in the morning and I feel just as much like shit as I did before. It's been 3 days in a row now.

[Spehss _]

I'm so lonely. But I hate interacting with people. I'm so introverted that going out and doing anything in public is draining. I'm so bad at talking with people that I don't know how to meet people even if given the opportunity. I can't open up to people or trust people.

I don't know how I'm supposed to accomplish anything meaningful in life when I'm so bad at human interaction. Jobs require people skills. Friendships require people skills. Family requires people skills.

[TheDarkStar]

I'm so lonely. But I hate interacting with people. I'm so introverted that going out and doing anything in public is draining. I'm so bad at talking with people that I don't know how to meet people even if given the opportunity. I can't open up to people or trust people.

I don't know how I'm supposed to accomplish anything meaningful in life when I'm so bad at human interaction. Jobs require people skills. Friendships require people skills. Family requires people skills.

I know how that feels. I've spent a considerable amount of effort over the last few months doing my best to overcome my own lack of people skills. One thing that helped was realizing that if I tried to talk to someone and it went badly, odds are I wouldn't see them again (or at least I could easily avoid them). If it went well, I might see them again and then I would kind of have a friend. I also started trying to just find opportunities to end up in the company of others/end up around others (examples: concerts, clubs, school if applicable, etc. Basically try to find somewhere where you can relate to people there, even if it's just a little bit). Even if I didn't actually say anything, watching the way people interacted was a really valuable experience because it gave me a model of how I should act. It's also much easier to talk to people if there's a group of people because everyone can contribute a little bit to a conversation rather than you just talking to one person where you have to supply roughly half of the conversation.

One of the most interesting things I noticed was that I was more successful in connecting with other people if I didn't focus on myself as much and tried to focus on other people more. I also learned that most people have just as many concerns about talking to new people as I do. Finally, it did take a lot of practice (and calculated but ambitious risk-taking). Six months ago, I had trouble looking at people while talking to them (I still do, but I can maintain eye contact or something close to it for long enough that people don't notice it much) and I didn't have any good friends (basically, I had lots of people that knew who I was but none that I could talk to about anything even remotely serious; eventually, I started drifting away from a lot of those people and I was fairly lonely) but I kept trying to find some people that I could relate to and who shared my same interests. Currently, I actually do have some good friends and I've learned to keep up a conversation most of the time, and it's because of the time I've had to observe other's interactions and because I asked people about social stuff that I was having trouble with.

So basically, don't give up and don't stop trying to learn to interact with people. It's fine if you're introverted (which is not the same thing as being shy) - I'm extremely introverted and sometimes I have to spend hours of time on my own and I've been able to slowly learn how to interact with people. Mostly, you need to expand the range of circumstances with which you feel comfortable. It will take effort and time and you might not always be successful, but you can do it.

[Shook]

Alas, the only way to get people skills is to not shy away from interactions. I am most definitely guilty of doing that, and i'm not the most socially adept person either, but... I'm starting to learn that other people can have a lot to offer. I'm still cripplingly anxious about revealing what's going on behind the curtain that is my skull (fun fact: even includes my immediate family and best friends), but thankfully, you don't need to tell everyone in order to have a conversation or play games with them. Even if you want to say no, try saying yes every once in a while. If nothing else, you can always back out again if it becomes overwhelming; i've found people to be surprisingly respectful of that, and people who deal with the same can even understand it. In fact, from what i've experienced, outgoing people tend to be a bit curious about the less outgoing ones, because after all, the latter tends toward solitude and not talking a lot, thus leaving much shrouded in mystery. I guess i'd be curious too.

[SalmonGod]

All I do is work.  Ask for nothing in return but leniency as I deal with everyone's shit.  And all I ever hear is it's not good enough.

[Felissan]

Spoiler: Update on the unquotable stuff, that can't be quoted either (click to show/hide)

Today I could wake up and go to class. But I was unable to pay any attention to what we've done all day, and I feel mentally exhausted now. The life-changing exams I'm taking mid-April are most likely a lost cause now.

[TheBiggerFish]

*hugs SalmonGod*

You're doing far more than enough.  I'm sorry they can't see it.

*hugs Felissan*

Anything we can help with?

[Yoink]

Wearing my horribly tacky, souvenir "I <3 LA" t-shirt as a pyjama top.
This reminded me of that amazing button-up Budweiser baseball shirt that  I've regretted not buying from Walmart ever since, and that in turn sparked a conversation on my (family's) trip to the US, and naturally this wound up making me sad about, well, not being there anymore.

[Hanslanda]

Turns out my wife has an active strain of hpv and has had it for five plus years and no doctor noticed until now. She is distraught and afraid I would be upset with her. I care but in the "oh god it can give my amazing wife cancer" way and I've been trying to comfort her all day now.

[TheBiggerFish]

*hugs Hanslanda*

That...Really sucks. 

[NRDL]

Hang in there man. Wish you and your wife all the best.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It's good that you found out she's infected without cancer developing, at least.

[Hanslanda]

Indeed. It's somewhat frightening, what with her being five months pregnant and all. Our child could possibly catch it during birth, amongst other risks. I'm dealing with it fairly well, I think. I'm a cold, emotionless person in crisis. It's awful. But she's very upset and she's had so much crap in her past. I wish I could do more to ease her burden. I appreciate the sentiments though guys.