Help How can I cope with having no friends/no social life?

[Spite]

Title, pretty much. And by "no friends" I mean no IRL friends. I have a small handful of people online who I have never met IRL who I communicate with but that's about it.

At this point I'm convinced I will never have any meaningful real-life friendships. I've never had a close, genuine friendship in my entire life. Trust me, it will never happen. I'm just going to have to accept my fate that I will always be a friendless loser. Also, pretty much no-one is making new friends in their late 20s. Most people already have well-established social lives and friend circles and are not looking for new friends. Most people my age are also busy hustling and only have time to worry about themselves, which I can't blame them for.

Even if I were to somehow miraculously make new friends and get a social circle right now, it would always be awkward and it would feel "off" because I've never experienced a social connection like that before and I'm nearly 30. That shit naturally develops in us when we are CHILDREN, and I completely missed out on it. I have missed out on one of the most fundamental aspects of being alive - friendship. It sounds almost unbelievable how anyone can go their entire lives without a single meaningful friendship, but I guess there is a very tiny amount of very unlucky people who do, and I'm one of them.

How do I cope with this? How do I stay sane? How do I embrace True Forced Loneliness? Can it be embraced?

 

[certified_idiot]

I've had imaginary friends for my entire life that I still talk to, even as an adult. Socialization becomes a lot easier when you can control the entire situation and the other person's responses. At this point, I'm so dissociated from reality that my imaginary friends feel more real than real people. I know this isn't a healthy solution, but it's better than just wallowing in your misery.

 

[wine is fine but]

you have already coped, which means that you are much stronger than you think you are

none of us have any idea what others are going through, but there is a good chance many people here have gone through what you have - many of us will feel we have

but you have already made it this far - you have already done the hard yards - life does get easier in many, many respects from your late 20's

and this will probably not help you if you claim to have none, but for me quality is always much more important than quantity. first off, you need to be your own best friend. be true to yourself first and foremost

 

[Aknu132]

Title, pretty much. And by "no friends" I mean no IRL friends. I have a small handful of people online who I have never met IRL who I communicate with but that's about it.

At this point I'm convinced I will never have any meaningful real-life friendships. I've never had a close, genuine friendship in my entire life. Trust me, it will never happen. I'm just going to have to accept my fate that I will always be a friendless loser. Also, pretty much no-one is making new friends in their late 20s. Most people already have well-established social lives and friend circles and are not looking for new friends. Most people my age are also busy hustling and only have time to worry about themselves, which I can't blame them for.

Even if I were to somehow miraculously make new friends and get a social circle right now, it would always be awkward and it would feel "off" because I've never experienced a social connection like that before and I'm nearly 30. That shit naturally develops in us when we are CHILDREN, and I completely missed out on it. I have missed out on one of the most fundamental aspects of being alive - friendship. It sounds almost unbelievable how anyone can go their entire lives without a single meaningful friendship, but I guess there is a very tiny amount of very unlucky people who do, and I'm one of them.

How do I cope with this? How do I stay sane? How do I embrace True Forced Loneliness? Can it be embraced?

I'm on the same situation, no real life profound friendship. i personally can't cope with this, it's one of the mains reasons for me to CTB too. I wish you the best, i understand how are you feeling, it's such a profound sadness.

 

[Yknot]

Maybe friendships are overrated. Most friends are dispensable and contact is superficial. People wear masks and hold poses to desperately fit in friend groups. Often I am more lonely in a group than by myself. Real connections are rare, don't think that everyone with so called friends has a better life than you. Try to love or at least accept yourself first. Be nice to other people. And who knows, you may actually meet somone you like.