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How many friends do you need? ALSO - Do you need regular breaks when seeing people

Wazzachicken64

I have one close friend.  I find it hard to have more than this.  I loose contact with people  easily and tend not to stay in contact with people.  Does anyone also experience this? 

Also - Whenever I am at something social I often need to have  break from everyone every half hour or so for 5 -1 0 mins at least.  Anyone experience this? 

  • I find it tragically difficult to hold on to friends. They always end up drifting away. So the idea of just having one is precarious. Anyway I enjoy hanging around largish groups having fun.

  • I have my sister, cousin, and 6 friends from my whole 40 years who I love and trust. I see my sister most often, mainly video calls every couple of weeks. I see my other friends very infrequently. One I haven’t seen for about 5 years but I love her dearly. I also have my partner who I live with- he is very easy to be around. 
    I love my friends and will do what I can to support them. But I can’t manage to talk to people or see them very often. It’s just too exhausting. I like to text with them. We can tell each other anything. And we’re all realising one by one in the past year or so that we’re all neurodivergent… 

  • I have 3 close friends who live about 40, 70 + 400 miles away from me. We mainly text which is ideal (I find socialising way too stressful). On the rare occasions that I do go out (to the supermarket and cinema) I need to escape the noise sometimes. If I don't shut myself in a quiet toilet or car, I get really stressed out and irritable. I stopped socialising many years ago. It only leads to feeling unsettled, irritable, narky, overloaded etc etc. It's hard to stay focused on a conversation when there's a lot of background noise and you're constantly anxious. Texting? It's a whole different story. You can reply at your own pace and there's no awkward pauses to worry about. 

     

  • One close friend for me too, I also take regular breaks at family or social events, luckily most of my family know why and so can cover for me when I go for a wander

  • I definitely need breaks from answering questions, interactions, and also anyone i timate.

  • My daughter  is the same .she as social  anxiety  and she does have a couple of friends  but she doesn't  go out at weekends  with them .

    Does any other of you socialise  outside of college or work .

    I would just like to understand  and find out if this to normal  for people  with autism. 

  • I only have a couple. I see them once or twice a year probably and find that it's quite hard to socialize with them as our lives have changed quite a lot and we have a lot less in common now. Normally it's in the pub so I'm ok after a couple of beers have loosened by inhibitions and I stop overthinking everything, but I gave up alcohol a few months ago and now whilst I'm looking forward to seeing them I'm also really nervous about whether or not I'm going to be able to keep a conversation going or if it's just going to be awkward.

  • I am very similar. I struggle to keep contact and find it overwhelming trying to keep up the socialising to maintain friendships. I don't take breaks when I am socialising but I have to plan a day off the next day because I am so completely exhausted. 

  • I have no friends and I guess I don't need friends but I'd definitely like some because I'm lonely.

    At anything social I keep going to the toilet for 'breaks' so I can get myself calmer and back together as such things make me feel pale and unwell. It's overwhelming.