People treat me like I am “different” or “off” what do I do to fix it?
I am 19M and most of my life I have always been the more introverted quiet and calm type I’m not a very high energy person at all. I didn’t really struggle to make friends. I wasn’t really bullied or anything and my friends are cool, same humour, can make fun of each other playfully etc but when meeting new people in a group setting or not I always felt “different” I wouldn’t say anything out of pocket and I’m able to catch most people’s jokes and references but in group social settings I always felt people took to my friends more than me. That may be because I am more quiet and introverted but even when I tried to be more social and stuff it felt like people didn’t really fuck with me and it felt unnatural or “fake” when I tried to move away from my natural self
I’m now in my first year of college where I’m not chilling with my highschool friends all day and while I’ve made new friends here that are cool I still feel like I’m not at my best. I’ve been seeing people on campus who are super social, they are in huge friend groups, some guys are cool with a bunch girls etc and I feel like I’m behind socially
When I do try to socialise with other people I do notice that they’re pretty cool and receptive and I’ve had good conversations but there’s still something “off” about it like it’s a weird feeling and I don’t know why.
While this isn’t something that keeps me up at night and I’m not super stressed about it I do want to improve in a social aspect and have people be more receptive to me and gravitate towards me more. I do suspect that I’m neurodivergent in a “high functioning” manner which may be why most people think I’m “off” in some way even though I don’t look it idk
Posted Mar 6, 2026, 3:47 PM UTC