u/Thick-General-2532

I posted here about ten months ago, but life got in the way and now I'm back to the search. I'm not sure how easy it is to meet people and make friends in this area. Since I'm going back to work soon, I'm hoping for something that's not a big commitment, and I already asked in another thread about volunteering. The hobbies I take part in now tend to be pretty solitary (reading, writing, going for walks through Westmont or Stackhouse, etc). But I really just want to meet people, so I'm open to anything.

I recently come to the conclusion that my problem isn't necessarily cognitive; it's physiological. Not in the sense like there's something wrong with my thyroid or anything like that (I already got that checked out), but the problem is my nervous system.

See, when I'm around people and I want to talk, my brain goes blank. This is because my amygdala jumps into survival mode and shuts done my pre-frontal cortex, cutting off my ability to process information or think of anything to say. This is why none of the practices I learn about treating anxiety work. Or why any of the five years of therapy or medication hasn't worked either.

Since I can't think of anything to say, I get plenty of social exposure, but I rarely participate, meaning I don't form relationships with people or make friends. So now, I'm lonely, depressed, and anxious all the time.

I don't know where this problem came from, since I had a pretty normal childhood, but I'm not sure how to stop it. I've read that I just need to try and be boring to other people (state the obvious observations that I normally filter out because I find them too boring to say), but the problem is that I have nowhere to be around people regularly enough that I can consistently practice that.

Am I making any sense? Does what I'm saying sound like it could be true? If so, does anyone know how to deal with it?

I recently come to the conclusion that my problem isn't necessarily cognitive; it's physiological. Not in the sense like there's something wrong with my thyroid or anything like that (I already got that checked out), but the problem is my nervous system.

See, when I'm around people and I want to talk, my brain goes blank. This is because my amygdala jumps into survival mode and shuts done my pre-frontal cortex, cutting off my ability to process information or think of anything to say. This is why none of the practices I learn about treating anxiety work. Or why any of the five years of therapy or medication hasn't worked either.

Since I can't think of anything to say, I get plenty of social exposure, but I rarely participate, meaning I don't form relationships with people or make friends. So now, I'm lonely, depressed, and anxious all the time.

I don't know where this problem came from, since I had a pretty normal childhood, but I'm not sure how to stop it. I've read that I just need to try and be boring to other people (state the obvious observations that I normally filter out because I find them too boring to say), but the problem is that I have nowhere to be around people regularly enough that I can consistently practice that.

Am I making any sense? Does what I'm saying sound like it could be true? If so, does anyone know how to deal with it?