u/GlumAbrocoma

I'm in my late 20s, never been in a relationship, I am short and bald and my social skills are absolutely terrible. I barely have any friends at all, I am what you'd call an "incel" (minus the misogyny).

I thought I could invest my energy into something more productive other than engaging with incel forums that fueled my self-hatred.

And while that worked for a few years or so, my social situation is still the same if not worse. People judge me for my obvious dearth of social skills and now it's almost impossible to find friends let alone dates regardless of commonalities.

Because I've spent all my time drawing instead of interacting with humans, I didn't actually improve my situation but I've managed to distract myself. And now it's just not working anymore.

I was just minding my own business wearing a rosary at a Skillet show in Europe and some guys called me out on how christianity and rock don't mix together. I told them "..you do realize you're at a christian rock show don't you?" to which they just burst out in laughter.

I was weirded out by the interaction but then realized this is still a very common thought pattern in my country for religious people and rock/metalheads to stigmatize each other.

I know Skillet welcomes people of every faith/belief at their shows and I think that's great but I just think it's really ironic that they played for many people who literally despise the very foundation behind their music.

I will admit I am close to giving up because no one cares about me or my art and what I have to say. I thought it would be best to either stop posting online at all and never engage with artistic communities because it doesn't seem to work for me. It's like people are just against me expressing myself and I feel oppressed.

I'm a late 20s lonely, single guy who struggles with adulting. I can't keep a job, find a partner and talk to people and it feels like art is something that enables all the isolation and doesn't exactly help me in the real world.

Even though I feel happy in the moment whilst drawing, I get reminded of my issues afterwards and just have no clue as to what the heck should I do about all of it.

People occasionally appreciating my art adds salt to the wound more than anything "yeah we like some of your drawings but that doesn't mean we like YOU"

Mă refer la nișa de "christian rock", la formații asemănătoare cu Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, P.O.D., Demon Hunter, etc. Pot fi și din alt subgen, nu neapărat strict alt-metal sau metalcore.

I'm in my late 20s and never been on a date and at this point I don't know if it will ever happen to me. Either I have way unrealistic expectations or just don't understand dating at all (or both).

Whenever I read about others' amazing, patient and supportive partners it feels like there must be something seriously wrong with me to not be able to date at all. I get easily rejected and tossed aside.

Just recently a girl I've been talking through a dating app for a while bluntly said "your social skills are SH*T". She basically said there'd be no point in going out cause she'd be essentially talking to a kindergartener.

Is this a thing INFPs sometimes go through or just an autism/neurodivergency trait? Is there any hope whatsoever?

Just looking for someone to relate to and reach a sense of closure. Thanks.

I feel like the reason behind my art block is constant self-doubt and questioning my ability.

My goal is to draw comics (already started a project: https://tapas.io/series/abyss-soulbound) and I really want to improve but I can't really tell what I'm doing wrong and how to self-assess my skills, so if I keep "practicing" I'll just keep making more of the same.

The fact that people generally don't really have reactions and don't really touch on what I can do to improve isn't helping either (what is it I need to start with, shading, gesture drawing, basic shapes, perspective).

Should I maybe sign up for some type of private mentorship or something like that? All input is welcomed, thanks!

I'm honestly a mediocre artist (at best) and I'm just failing to see the point lately, people keep saying "do it if it brings you joy" but is my joy really all that important? Doesn't that seem a bit selfish?

Sure I could be filling up my social media or just have my pretentious cartoon drawings on my hard drive or in my sketchbook but I won't be socializing, meeting people or joining a community this way and it'll just be me drawing in isolation for eternity.

I don't think it benefits me that much besides a few moments of selfish enjoyment which might aswell come from playing video games or eating junk. But at least drawing is not as unhealthy I suppose.

I literally feel worthless to the core and at this point there's nothing that can change it. There's just nothing else I want more in life than to have a partner but I'm 28 and no one was ever interested in me and by this point most women are already taken anyway.

I'm physically unattractive, depressed and ND (likely AuDHD) which as a man, decreases the chances of experiencing a relationship down to 0. I honestly have no idea as to why I was even born at this point, what's my purpose, if I'm incapable of even the most basic human needs in existence.

There's only a tiny sliver of hope I have left, I will just grab my electric guitar and play in public. But if that never goes anywhere and I don't impress any woman then I sincerely wish I was just put out of my misery somehow, I wouldn't count on it anyway.

I literally feel worthless to the core and at this point there's nothing that can change it. There's just nothing else I want more in life than to have a partner but I'm 28 and no one was ever interested in me and by this point most women are already taken anyway.

I'm physically unattractive, depressed and ND (likely AuDHD) which as a man, decreases the chances of experiencing a relationship down to 0. I honestly have no idea as to why I was even born at this point, what's my purpose, if I'm incapable of even the most basic human needs in existence.

There's only a tiny sliver of hope I have left, I will just grab my electric guitar and play in public. But if that never goes anywhere and I don't impress any woman then I sincerely wish I was just put out of my misery somehow, I wouldn't count on it anyway.

I just turned 28 today and I am starting to panic and lose sleep over the fact that literally no one wants to date me and I have absolutely no clue as to what to do.

I've reached out to therapists, some have been confused, others essentially said it's a matter of "confidence" (I genuinely don't understand confidence and what to do about it), others said some variation of "it will happen when it will happen, focus on yourself first" etc. Friends basically said the same.

Maybe I'm not being completely honest with myself and who I really am or maybe I'm just aiming well past my league which is why I always end up heartbroken and disappointed.

In any case, I don't get why I shouldn't tie my worth to my relationship status since it's such a basic human need I'm unable to fulfill, what more could I hope for myself if I can't even do that?

I'm genuinely terrified for my future and I might resort to a radical decision if I really make it past 30 and still single. All input is welcomed, thank you.

I just don't know what to say anymore.. I've tried and nothing works, no matter what I do or say it's all the same, it's like I instantly repel women the moment I speak. Acting positive and expressive just feels so fake it's like I have to be something I'm not all the time.

I feel like I fumble every interaction I have with women and as a result I get ghosted and rejected all the time. I act really awkward and sort of try too hard and all that does is not being taken seriously as a result.

A more recent example I met someone at a reptile expo and I even got her socials. I felt like we had quite a lot in common we were both artists, "geeks' and obviously into exotic animals, she even seemed to take interest initially but admittedly I got a little shy towards the end when she asked if she can see my art, but I've showed her some of my work anyway.

And as expected she was hardly replying over text over the next few days and pretty much vanished when I asked her to grab a cup of coffee together.

I feel like there's something big I'm missing when it comes to establishing attraction and I'm just clueless about it. I've asked friends who are far more skilled at dating what's the deal and they just seem to "know" instinctively what to say to women.

Has anyone else experienced investing emotionally in someone far too early on and having strong feelings to not receiving a reply back ASAP? I feel like my intensity makes others back off easily and this anxious attachment style is likely the source of my failure in romance. Does this have any correlation whatsoever to ADHD?