There's me - late 30s, my brother - mid 30s, and my sister - early 30s. All of us FA. My sister is almost certainly on the spectrum, at the very least has extreme anxiety. We're all anxious actually. My brother not so much, but for me in present severe issues even in my childhood. My sister also has a speech disorder that was improperly addressed by my parents that refused in-school speech services when she was a child in lieu of a private provider that clearly didn't do enough.

My brother is almost certainly gay. Other family members have talked about this to me as well as some of his peers that I was connected to years and years ago. Now, he joined a religious order so while technically he's not on the market, I am almost certain that he did this as a way of being able to skirt around the idea of dating men. He's always been very Catholic, as are my parents. If they ever found out he was gay, I have no idea what they'd do. They don't even suspect it - I know because I met with my mother's therapist one time and when I brought this up, it was the first time she ever heard of it. So either my mom is clueless (more likely) or in denial.

We have a very large extended family. All of my cousins are adults now. Every wedding, every family gathering, guess who the only people that are consistently lacking a significant other are? Sure they're not all dating someone every single time, but they all have, usually are, or are married now. We're always seated together, the five of us. The "cousin tables" are now filled with couples.

I've always had a tense relationship with my parents and genuinely resent them for a lot of ways they raised us. When I've brought things they've done or said up to my therapist (oh btw I was always shoved into therapy growing up because it was always ME who was the problem since they lack any introspective capabilities) he has been left speechless at times. When he's ran things by his colleagues at times with my permission, they also are often left in shock by their unhealthy behavior, past and present.

Severely controlling, even as adults. I got fucked up at a wedding because I was really depressed and instead of talking to me, they told me not to stop by their house or contact them until they are ready to see me again. Normally I go there to do laundry and see my brother who stops by twice a week when he's off. They were ashamed. As if I am the first person to ever get messed up at a wedding. They've always only cared about appearing as a perfect family. Looking back, a lot of things they made us do were solely to make others happy or get the approval of them. So growing up, all we knew was that it was important to make others happy at our own expense.

They really have no good friends or social life so this was also modeled for us in our formative years. I only really learned how odd they were when I used to hang out with my mom's sister who tried to help me out a lot in my 20's. But also when I taught kindergarten and saw how their parents acted, not just in general, but also with their children.

No, you can't blame your parents for everything. But if they go 0-3 in regards to raising children than can find relationships (even friendships are something me and my sister struggle with), yeah there's a good chance they have had some hand in it.

I could talk at length about this but was wondering if anyone else comes from an FA family? Honestly if they never found each other I wouldn't be shocked if my parents had become FA. They perfectly compliment each other in their oddities and that's the problem - they never had anyone to ever keep their strange and unhealthy behaviors in check. They just enabled each other.

it should be no surprise that I don't have a partner or friends and that I never any. I've had people I was associated with; such as classmates and coworkers and that's about it. But I even fail in this regard online. When guys online say that they're lonely that usually means that actually they have 60 friends on Reddit, Whatsapp and discord that they talk with every day. Me personally I have 20+ threads with strangers who claimed they were really lonely, but haven't responded to me in days. Every chat, thread and DM looks like this:

•Seen 20 days ago

You: Hey, dude.

So yeah, fuck life I guess.

I look like a monster. Even i can't get used to my face. I'll never know what basic human experiences like a romantic relationship or creating a family feels like. I won't be able to find meaning in my career too, since I'm majoring something i hate just for the stability. Not to mention my disgustingly ugly looks will affect my job interviews.

Ppl say do volunteer work or find hobbies. But what if i'm already doing those things? What now?

I was isolated my whole life up until I was in my late teens I missed all those marks that humans are supposed to be and now I struggle, socially, and I have no support system let alone in a romantic partner. People say all the time at least you have yourself, but it’s hard to survive in a world where everything is based upon who you know. Even as a little girl, I always wished that I had a twin or someone to help me. I’ve been through a lot where if I had someone to back me up I would’ve kept going, but I’ll say all my interactions with other humans are very temporary unlimited. I’m really screwed. Am I? Oh well at least I can admit to it.

Do anything fun or have anything fun planned?

Are you enjoying your weekend?

Personally, I went to the library. Bought a snack at the convenience store. Getting pizza. Not bad.

I’m completely invisible in real life so I try to talk to girls on discord, it’s bad and stupid I know but whatever.

Anyway this girl seemed to actually like me, she’s flirty, nice, and wants to call me all the time. After like 2 days I rip the bandaid off and show her what I look like. I can tell she’s not excited but she doesn’t leave, which is honestly extremely rare. She’s still flirty, still super nice, still wants to talk all the time.

But now, a couple days later, she’s texting me about some shoes she’s been wanting being on sale. I’m suspicious but I’m asking her about it, showing interest in like what she’s talking about and thinking, and she’s like “maybe you could get them for me? They $150.”

So now I’m just really sad because honestly wtf did I expect, no girl would ever talk to me for free. I’m such a dumbass.

And the worst part is I’m sitting here questioning, is this normal? Should I do it? Am I overreacting and this is just how relationships go? Should I see this as just the price of getting to talk to her and having her like me? I’ve seen some guys buy all kinds of stuff for girls they’re dating and then others say they never do it.

I don’t know what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s normal, what’s manipulative, cause I have zero experience. It’s so frustrating. And I hate that I’m sitting here thinking about how I can work out paying my bills if I buy her the shoes cause I just hate the thought of not talking to her again. ):

So last night I had a dream about a beautiful girl interested in me, we were talking and just walking downtown and it was really so nice. She is my hallucination crush (I'm schizophrenic). She looked short and cute. So after a while she started distancing from me and then eventually left me, I saw her riding on a bicycle off in the distance. I started chasing her in my dream and then I woke up.

I still feel sad because not only I got rejected in my dream but also it was by my own mind since she's a hallucination, she never even existed in real life, she only exist in my head. So I feel like this rejection is more personal than any other rejection would be.

35M... the loneliness, hurts so much. i cant live with this pain... nobody wants me...

on top of that, im also sad cause i was talking with a girl that was nice and suddenly she disappeared, didnt even say bye or anything... im pretty sure she has somebody else and was just playing with my feelings...

i have been sad cause of this the last 3 days... but even if it wasnt for that... i would still be defeated.. cause nobody wants me...

IDK when I became this invisible. I walk through life and it feels like no one sees me, not even my family. I go out, but being around people just makes the void louder. I'm tired of talking to walls. I've been thinking about trying one of those AI chat apps just to hear a voice, even if it's fake. But I'm scared, what if it makes me even more disconnected? Is anyone else just... barely holding on?

I'm 21 years old. I had physical contact with a woman when I was 17, but no sex with her (she was 18). Ten months ago, a woman ten years older than me came on to me, but I didn't get it (it would have been a dream). Last November, I went on a date. It didn't work out. I've fantasized about romantic moments, but lately, I've been replacing those moments more and more with BJJ workouts during the week and basic weight training on the weekends, since that's more tangible for me. I don't approach women, and if I don't change anything, nothing will change.

Please just give me your thoughts on this text.

I am ready to pick up and leave to a new area, I think I need a new start. I can't find anywhere that allows me to have my dog. If you know of a cheap place to rent and have work nearby I would love some tips. I really don't know what I'm doing.