i know how you feel i go through simmilar things all the time. i have dpression and to me it sounds like you might have it. depression is basically a one word meaning empty but worse. im there with you. you might want to take an oline depression quiz or test then go from there. good luck!

i really know how you are feeling. I've been having the same feelings for a while. i feel lost in this world. I feel like i have no one to turn to.
Like you i feel like a complete stranger around others i feel like i'm not good enough. Hang in there find in me someone you can talk to...

I think I know exactly how you feel. I have been severely depressed for almost 6 years now. I still don't know why or how I got it. I am no longer the person I used to be, the one who I admired. She was motivated, smart, had personality, confidence. She had a ton of friends. I now don't have any. I haven't been out socially in 6 months now. I am at home by myself every single night. I feel incredibly alone too. I feel like I am always just trying to keep my head above the water, like there's no end in site.
I know how you feel about people not understanding too. When I first told my parents about it they thought it was stupid and ridiculous. I felt like I couldn't tell people because they most likely haven't been through it and think that you can just snap out of it, or quit feeling sorry for themselves. They are wrong. It's not just that simple. It's the hardest thing I have ever and am still going though.
My suggestion is to go and see a dr and start getting a medication regimen going. That will give you a boost immediatly, but will take time. I've been trying different meds for almost a year now, none of them quite right, but we're getting closer. Second, you should go to counseling. I myself have never done it because I've been scared, but I have my first appointment next week and can't wait to get advice from someone who knows a thing or two about it.
I'm not going to give you a pep talk, because I think sometimes people just need someone to agree with them. That sucks that you have to go through this. It sucks so incredibly much that it can never be put into words.

I watched my mother suffer from manic depression (bi-polar) for 40 years. While it stopped her from completely falling apart, it never did make her happy. She never did make friends and she died feeling alone in the world, even though we all loved her so much. She got more and more introverted and isolated. She always pushed people away.

Heck, I can do all that without medication!

Isn't happiness a choice?

i m sorry to hear that completelylost, that sounds so sad. i battled depression for 18 years. i blame it on my childhood (physically & mentally abused).
it's hard for some people to feel happy even on medication. i was on prozac and it made me numb for a month then it wore off. you can always ask the therapist to change your medication or up the doages.
my mom was happy on prozac, i had 20mgs and she had 40.
i got off of it because i didnt like the way it made me feel.
JohnDoe17,
do you have an account with myspace, twitter, facebook. you can meet a lot of friends this way. what about work, or school, your neighborhood. are you quiet like me and it takes a long time to meet people.
i have one bestfriend, one boyfreind, and one female associated, and i m content.

sorry to hear you were abused. i wasn't. i did grow up in a house where my Dad expected a lot of us. he had very high standards. we lived in a very isolated part of Canada - i never did get the chance to develop strong social skills and i can be quite introverted.

i guess i am a real oddball ... i struggle with this all the time ... i do have opportunities to make friends and do things with people but i always push it off and/or find an excuse not to be friends with them ... i always think that we won't have enough in common to hold my interest. sounds snobby, huh? i know! my counselor says i am a snob. maybe i am. i expect a lot of myself and others and am tough to be around. i end up pushing people away all the time. i have no idea WHY and i don't think that is something that medication can fix. everyone arounds me thinks i should take something.

i think it has a lot to do with the point that your dad held you at high standards, and how you lived in an isolated part of canada.
i m so used to being by myself and i am very judgmental when it comes to meeting female friends. i think this is because my strick parents told me you dont let everyone in your household, and hardly anyone came in.
you dont have to take medication if you dont want to. but counseling is good for you.
your probably not a snob, everyone is different.

Honey I feel so bad for you..Please do go see your doctor..You expect and is expected so much from yourself..Too bad you can't throw your (work phone) into the ocean and just relax on the beach with a nice cold drink..
I'm gonna throw this out:I bet you are very intelligent and that makes it harder to relate to a person of normal intelligence as well..Sometimes talking with someone makes them feel like a no match just due to the intelligence level..Don't dumb it down because you would not be happy that way either..Check in your area for clubs where people go to who have the same kind of responisbilites that you do..Like someone who owns their own business knows all the rules and regulations where the worker bee doesn't-nor has a need to know..Be with people who are at same level of intensity..But please be sure and see your doc..who knows you might have some kind of hormonal imbalance and lab work could show this..But talk with your doctor..ok..k

Hey completelylost
Medication does help but it's not a magic pill. It will allow you the normal function you need to enable you to interact with others without anxiety or personal demons sabotaging your efforts but there isn't a pill to overcome years of social isolation. Your heart, metaphysically speaking, is in a sense a muscle. Like other parts of you it gets stronger the more you use it. The way you strengthen your ability to form emotional bonds with others is by making yourself vulnerable, learning to interpret the needs of others and trusting that they will look after your needs. The practice is simple, almost effortless but the process of learning is hard and often painful.

Happiness like everything in life is a choice that many people don't get to make. A working treatment psychological or psychiatric will give you the power to make that choice but choosing happiness is very much so choosing to do the work to attain the things that make you happy.

I hope you feel better my friend

omg are you o.k????

There is no magic cure for depression, the only cure is within yourself. You seem to be carrying a mask around with you, everyone sees it and it impresses/intimidates them, but it's also a barrier, no-one can see your insecurities, but you can't see them either, and hence you are alienated from them.
People have stopped seeing you as human, instead they simply see the big impressive front you put up when they are around and forget you are human, and cannot empathise with you, unfortunately with that front in the way, neither can you- hence: mututal alienation.
Dealing with this is difficult, you need to begin to let people gradually see you are human, gradually lower the barrier. If you let others see your weaknesses as well as your strengths communication is easier, bonds are more easily made and interaction and socialising become easier too.
Counselling can make lowering the barrrier between yourself and others easier, but ultimately it is up to you. You are the only one who can solve this problem, pills can numb the symptoms but will do nothing about the initial cause of the problem- your social barrier and insecurity.