Bipolar Disorder Community

Hi Gemjune, and welcome to the board. It's been kind of slow around here for a while; otherwise, you'd of probably got a reply well before now.

I'm wondering if maybe you could be a little more specific. How much would you say that you've worked on this issue with your therapist, and what kinds of suggestions has he/she given you? You may not be at the "suggestion" point yet. Maybe what would be best to do first is talk with your tdoc about why it's hard for you to socialize and what that means for you. I know that for myself, I used to be very hard on myself because I found it difficult to be in social situations as well until my therapist, (she knew me pretty well by then) had me realize that part of that difficulty was simply my personality. Not everyone are social butterflies, and thta's Ok. I'm not saying that's what you want to be; I'm just saying that for me, I thought there was something wrong with me because I wasn't as social as those around me. It had/has nothing to do with mental illness at all, but simply my personality and who I am.

I guess what I'm saying is maybe you can take a new look at yoursef and determine how much of your not wanting to socialize is just your personality and how much of it because of deeper issues within.

So again, if you're comfortable doing so, maybe you could provide a few more details on what you mean exactly, and what you expect to be different for you in this area.

Debbie

I'm going to take a whole different direction than our Debbie did. What kind of activities did you enjoy? Do you have any hobbies? Do you attend a church or religious place? Take your answers and start small. http://www.meetup.com is a good place to do a search and see if there are groups in your area that match your religious preference, hobby interests or activity interests. A lot of those groups are small and meet regularly giving you a chance to get out and do something you already enjoy.

I think the first step in breaking isolation is just getting out once. Hopefully, after that initial meeting/activity, the next will be easier and so on and so forth.

I hope that suggestion helps some!!
Mel