Even social media is becoming too much for me

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I might be taking a break from social media (including WrongPlanet) starting soon. I might be voluntarily giving up home internet access for a month or two because, well... even social media is becoming too much for me.

I think I'm on the edge of a complete social shutdown. Again. But I know it will pass, and I know it will pass more easily if I (figuratively) go hide in my room until I feel better.

This is something that just happens to me sometimes. Sometimes, like recently, I need complete isolation and even taking my dog outside to pee where a neighbor might say hi is a stressful thing. Sometimes, like more recently, even reading and posting things online is a stressful thing.

I posted this in the "Social Skills and Making Friends" forum because shutdowns like this have destroyed relationships of mine in the past.

I might still be around some, though, because the library has free internet, and I can get to the library on the bus and get set up on a computer there without having to interact with anyone for more than 5 seconds.

I know how you feel. I don't think anyone here will blame you for needing to take a personal break for awhile.

Don't feel bad or feel you have to justify it.
I've just deleted my Facebook account because it was causing me more upset than it did pleasure. I feel liberated.

While I know how you feel, I would say don't stop cold turkey. This past week, I went thru something similar, feeling like just writing a few emails and keeping pace with my recent Facebook activity was just too much. I stressed out for days. Then one day I just said to myself "Breathe and accept it. Your executive functioning is taking a turn for the worse, but don't let it stress you out. If you can only read and answer a few posts and maybe write just one of those emails, so be it. And, if occassionally, I just sit and stare out the window, that's okay too." I got through it. I'm still behind on some emails I want to write, but it's going to be okay. Being on the computer is such a big part of my normal routine, though. I feel like had I unplugged and thrown it in the corner, I would have felt like things had gotten the better of me.

The situation might be different for you, but that's what came to mind.

I understand. Me too.

If I lived in a secluded place, I would be outside everyday, and would hardly use the Internet (unless to see any messages from my family).

I also recently deleted Facebook. Prior to that, I had stopped dealing with other people on Facebook and simply used it as a way to get news about topics I like.
I would find that most of what I said would either get ignored, or I would get a lot of comments by people getting angry at me or even pitying me. That was too much, so I left.

Geez guys, maybe you would benefit from going camping from time to time or something? I plan a trip every couple of months, most of which aren't all that expensive either because I don't typically have to pay for a space at some campgrounds (wouldn't suggest anything like a campgrounds destination, too many other people and too many roads going through it) because to me that doesn't even feel like camping. No, if I want to go camping I take a tent, a fishing pole, one cooler for the beer and another for water and food, preroll some joints, and then go to a secluded spot to recharge. To me it sounds like OP could really use a mental recharging session like this.

Geez, Lukecash12, maybe you should put down the doobie and get a job?

Did that feel a little presumptious and judgmental? If so, good. This is the social skills forum and I want you to understand how the beginning of your post came across to me. I honestly don't care if you work and you can smoke whatever you want. I hike through the forest trails more often than most people I know do. My partner enjoys this and occassionally has time for it and is able to drive us there. I used to camp at a campground with some friends. One of them died and the other moved to Europe. Their companionship was enjoyable, and they provided needed structure to the occasion. I have few friends IRL. The isolation and lack of structure would likely not "recharge" me. I love the trails and the waterfalls. During the week, I also walk around my wooded acre daily, admiring the mature trees that I inherited and the additional shrubs, trees, bamboos, and perennnials that I have planted. Given your profession of lumberjack, it's likely you have a strong affinity with nature as do I. However, this is not true of everyone. Despite carving out time for nature, I have a strong need for social interaction and yet find it very difficult. A marked deficit in my ability to communicate verbally, unintentional body language and quirks, as well as sensory perception issues make the internet a good venue for me. Being on the internet puts me in the room, so to speak. The episode I described above made me feel kind of like the mute in the room, but I still took comfort from being in the room. The way the OP talked about "hiding in her room" instead of retreating into nature, being wary of even walking her dog out, deliberately posting to the social skills forum, and how a lack of socializing has led to the destruction of relationships, I kind of felt like she had more in common with the second part of myself that I talked about. I felt like pushing myself a little to maintain this routine, while trying to practice self-love and patience, was the right solution for me.

I don't know. You're response may very well help someone who reads it and perhaps even the OP herself. I hope that I didn't come down too hard. Perhaps, I became a tad defensive, but my goal was to be constructive and to explain where I was coming from (perhaps defensively lol). Don't read too much into the length of my reply. Writing is very therapeutic for me, and is a means to something that goes far beyond the content of what I have to say. If I'm feeling good, all of my written communications are on the long side.

Peace!

I get this too and sometimes it's my brain doing it because it's scared and wants someone to overcome the walls I put up so I know anyone cares.

That never happens so I crawl back slowly after a while.

I'm actually on the verge of doing it again myself, so you're not alone. I'm with you even if it is just in spirit.

Stay safe.

In response to some comments I didn't see earlier, I just want to say that I love nature and I WISH camping were an option for me. We went at least once a year for most of my life before college.

I love nature, but it's hard for me to get to nature. I have no support right now other than people to message with if I need company. These people provide nothing but emotional support; none could take me camping.

I live alone (with my dog) and I don't drive. I only leave my home when I need to. I don't even check my mail every day, and sometimes not for over a week, because walking to the other end of my apartment complex is over stimulating to me and very hard when I'm stressed, which I have been recently (and for most of my life leading up to recently).

After going grocery shopping (a 3 to 4 hour ordeal involving crowded buses and tried arms), I feel like a zombie for days. I go grocery shopping about every two weeks.

Sometimes I open up my phone's map app and try to find places I can go camping with just my dog and me, but there is (no shock) an apparent serious lack in this world of places that aren't crowded with people which I can get to via any reasonable and safe combination of buses, trains and my own two feet. I want to go camping, but I need someone to take me and there is no one.

I am really struggling with the concept that I will eventually have to go back to work... ;(