Anyone else a former agoraphobe/NEET

[miles-away]

Got homeschooled/isolated at the age of 12. Spent 8 years inside my house, not talking to anyone outside of my immediate family. It's very weird being a member of society now. I feel like I time travelled in the shittiest way possible. At times, I still feel like a 12 year old surrounded by a bunch of adults.

Can anyone else relate?

 

[autumn68]

i was agoraphobic from 14-22, i feel very similarly. i miss it a lot sometimes but i have too many responsibilities to ever go back to it now.

 

[NormallyNeurotic]

I spent almost my entire childhood going to schools that taught me nothing but how to survive abuse, then my physical (and mental) disabilities caught up with me before I could go to high school. I feel that every day. I essentially became a recluse for years.

I actually didn't know what NEET was unril people here talked about it, but it's crazy there's actually a term!

 

[Black_Knight]

I was borderline agoraphobic from 19-25. I went full hermit mode after high school. Gradual reintroduction to the outside world worked to some degree, but I still feel anxious around people. I know the feeling of dissonance with other people who never experienced that discontinuity. Although in some ways I feel the other way around, like I'm surrounded by 12 year olds xD, while also feeling like a 12 year old myself in other ways.

I think about the wasted time a lot, but I also rationalize it by telling myself I did the best I knew how to at the time.

 

[starryend]

Yeah, in a way. I know it's useless to think this way but it makes me feel a lot of guilt for wasting such a large portion of my 20's being too paralyzed to go out and talk to people and make friends.

 

[4colliez]

I don't know if I was fully agoraphobic from ages 12-14 but I was basically unable to socially interact and had some other phobias. I got a bit better for a few years and between 17-19 was a neet. I was miserable at that time tbh but I do miss having no responsibilities. Now I feel guilty if I have a day where I'm not productive and I feel like my social skills have been stunned

 

[Oreki]

I was borderline agoraphobic from 19-25. I went full hermit mode after high school. Gradual reintroduction to the outside world worked to some degree, but I still feel anxious around people. I know the feeling of dissonance with other people who never experienced that discontinuity. Although in some ways I feel the other way around, like I'm surrounded by 12 year olds xD, while also feeling like a 12 year old myself in other ways.

I think about the wasted time a lot, but I also rationalize it by telling myself I did the best I knew how to at the time.

'I think about the wasted time a lot'

This hits home, and I've also been thinking about it a lot lately

 

[madeincruddy]

Definitely. I've gone back to my reclusive lifestyle, but when I was working I felt extremely out of place and I think it was pretty obvious. I'm autistic and spent most of my life isolated due to severe social anxiety, so people can easily tell something is 'wrong' with me, even if they can't really put their finger on it. People were nice to me, but in the sense that I kind of got treated like a pet. Still, it was nice to finally have that sense of normalcy.

I'm back in isolation, though. Not socially anxious anymore, but I'm not speaking to many people outside of family. Ofc I'd like friends but it's hard when you're stuck at home ;;

 

[Oreki]

I have this phobia, and I really hate socializing. Even without it, I think I would still find it draining and exhausting either way. Somehow, I both want to be unapproachable and don't want to be at the same time. This contradiction creates a constant tension inside me, and I can't stand the mess in my own head, does anyone else ever feel like this??