Could barely talk a year ago. I was very depressed and lonely. Have went to stay at psychiatric clinics a couple of times. Only just recently got out again, but this time it was shorter than usua, only a couple of days. I’ve made some progress and now i can actually form a coherent sentence. Still incredibly afraid to talk to people. Still, after all this time I really don’t know the basics of social interaction How do you initiate a conversation with someone? How do you make friends?
Big agree. Go to a meetup for an activity you enjoy, there it’s easy to start by talking surface-level conversations about the hobby (also, in the case of dnd or some board games, a lot of people there are already less socially competent than average (that includes myself)).
I was reading Unmasking Autism and they said that autistic people have found friendship and support in fandoms because those kinds of spaces are a little more relaxed when it comes to social rules.