Hey E @happyotter,

Being an introvert myself, I understand how you feel. Many things which you mentioned in your post resonated with me a lot such as “starting fresh” and “not good at being social anymore”. In fact, I have also done things quite similar to yours in the past. I had left my job and country as well, just to get past the things and people who were a source of anxiety for me.

Truth be told, I believe that we should not be too harsh on ourselves. We have only one life and we should try to be happy living it. That is easier said than done. There would be some days which are really hard and then some days would be really happy. And then in the middle, there would be days which would be boring and lonely as well. Whenever you are having those bad days, please think about your journey from the lowest point of your life to recovering back. You are indeed a strong person who has gone through a lot and came smiling on the other side.

Regarding the fact that most people have already built life-long connections while you are just starting, think about it from a different perspective. Those people with whom you are opening up can probably be your life-long connections after some time. I am not saying that the journey of making good friends would always be easy but just that some parts of the journey would be beautiful and some might bring certain heartache with them as well.

Also, One more thing if that helps you. Being an introvert, I felt that I overthink situations much more than others. A situation/remark which would have been easy for others becomes difficult for me due to overthinking about the same. This is a complete spiral where you would start by innocuous thoughts and then they become a tornado of negative emotions. Consequently, within a few days, I would find myself self-isolated, alone and depressed. I am not sure about any solution or explanation regarding this and would very much appreciate thoughts of anyone about the same. The thing which helps me in such situations is making self-effort to come out of isolation and make efforts to change the situation. Only I have the power to change the circumstances around me.

Also, If you feel the need to talk with anyone or share your thoughts/emotions, please feel free to post in my thread. I would be happy to listen to you. Additionally, there are really awesome people including Anita on this forum who make the effort to reply to most posts.

Cheers