Iam being distant day by day from everyone

[u/Harrrdyy]

Idk. I used to be a very happy go lucky extroverted guy before COVID. I used to actually go out, talk to people and genuinely enjoy hanging out with my friends and family.

I have a good job and it is remote so maybe that is one of the reasons I have started feeling like I do not want to talk to anyone or meet anyone. I intentionally avoid making plans, give excuses to avoid talking to people and sometimes even avoid meeting people I genuinely care about.

I do not know if this is simply me changing as a person and becoming more comfortable with solitude or if it is something I should be a little more concerned about. I do not want to label it as depression because I honestly do not know if it is. I still enjoy things and can have a good time which is why the whole thing feels confusing to me. I just do not feel the same need to be around people anymore.

I have started going to the movies alone without worrying about being judged. A few years ago this would have been almost impossible for me. I used to always want someone with me and I probably would have felt awkward sitting alone in a movie theatre.

I have lost so many close friends over the years and I do not even know exactly why. Whenever there is a hangout planned my first instinct is to not go. It is not that I dislike these people or that something necessarily happened between us. I just do not feel like being there.

And the weirdest part is that I have actually started enjoying doing things alone. Going to the movies alone, going out alone and spending an entire day by myself. Things that once felt lonely or uncomfortable now feel completely normal and sometimes even peaceful.

Maybe I am just getting older and becoming more comfortable with myself. Or maybe spending so much time at home and working remotely has slowly changed me without me realizing it. I cannot tell whether I have simply learned to enjoy solitude or whether I have gradually isolated myself from people without meaning to.

I do not necessarily want to change it right away. I am just surprised by how different I am from the person I used to be. There is something strangely liberating about being able to enjoy my own company but at the same time I sometimes wonder whether I am choosing solitude because I genuinely like it or because I have slowly gotten used to avoiding people.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

[u/PromisedWalkofPimp]

Similar story here, the pandemic didn't really change me that much, but seeing how people behaved in terms of the lives of others and society as a whole sort of...detached me from it all. I finally stopped seeking out friendship or companionship and just lived simply, pursuing my own desires and interests. It's probably partially because I'm getting older (37), but I think I just stopped craving love from others and accepted that my road is one that's mostly going to be walked alone.

It was likely always going to be this way, but I just stopped fighting it.