Is there any coming back from prolonged social isolation?

[UsedToBeHappy]

Is there any coming back from 7 years of social isolation without even a friend, much less a fucking girlfriend? I've seen studies on grey matter in the brain being reduced because of isolation, and I worry there is no coming back after a certain point. I fear my brain has physically changed in irreparable ways and I have no more neuroplasticity now that I'm almost 24. I can tell my brain has changed, because I can't even fathom how to talk to someone. My mind simply goes blank when I imagine how I would start a conversation with another human being. Even online bullshit like Discord that will never scratch the real itch seems so impossible to tackle for me. It's been so long since I've spoken to someone that I don't even know how a conversation goes. And if I do make any connections, I wonder how I'd even hide the desperation of just wanting to talk to another person for the first time in years. I feel alien, and I don't know what to do. Is there any coming back, bros? Surely, there were prisoners in conditions of actual pure social isolation for longer, and they probably re-adjusted eventually, right?

 

[Stupid Clown]

Did you have any friends as a child?

 

[Robb97]

I'm in a similar place, but worse because I'm older.

It might be possible to come back if people would accept you. But most won't do that. In fact there is probably not a single person that will give you a chance if you're not good looking.

Try xanax/alcohol/phenibut and see if it helps you. It all didn't do much for me and I've tried way more than that.

 

[UsedToBeHappy]

Did you have any friends as a child?

I did, but there were still periods of multiple years where I didn't have any. It was an on-and-off sort of thing where I had no friends until 4th grade, but then lost those friends when I transferred to a hardcore Catholic private school for 6th grade and after due to a sexual assault against me by a male classmate. Everyone there shunned me because of that, and I never made a single friend there. When I went to high school, I actually excelled and was even somewhat "popular" until I had a mental break after going to university at a young age. I got diagnosed with a few different mental illnesses, and thinking I needed to sequester myself from everyone because I was "wrong", I never developed any friends after I was 16.

 

[Stupid Clown]

U

I did, but there were still periods of multiple years where I didn't have any. It was an on-and-off sort of thing where I had no friends until 4th grade, but then lost those friends when I transferred to a hardcore Catholic private school for 6th grade and after due to a sexual assault against me by a male classmate. Everyone there shunned me because of that, and I never made a single friend there. When I went to high school, I actually excelled and was even somewhat "popular" until I had a mental break after going to university at a young age. I got diagnosed with a few different mental illnesses, and thinking I needed to sequester myself from everyone because I was "wrong", I never developed any friends after I was 16.

You got raped?

 

[UsedToBeHappy]

U

You got raped?

I'd rather not get into it, but there was no penetration involved. I said sexual assault because I meant sexual assault. I think it's partly why I never found a girlfriend, because it made me scared of intimacy. For the pivotal parts of my youth, any touch reminded me of that, and I'd flinch and start to panic if anyone did try to touch me.

 

[Mecoja]

No, i don't think its reversible. You might become somewhat more comfortable around people if you spend time with them daily but every fibre of your being will want to run away. I didn't had social anxiety in childhood and early teenhood, but since i rotted for decades i dread every interaction with people or even leaving the house.

 

[Stone Cold Incel]

No, it's not reversible. By not socializing for such a long time, your reservoir of life experiences is undersized. This makes it harder to relate to other people and develop connections because you have nothing to talk about. It's not possible to catch up. I'm in a similar position to you.

 

[yung loner]

Nope. I have felt myself become retarded over the years from lack of any stimulation. The life differences between you and your same-age peers increases as you age

 

[oofy]

No, it's all over

My reality is broken and I've become a schizo

Your sanity and structure of mind is built upon a few pillars of "trust" about the authenticity of external reality, long-term isolation, trauma, guilt, anger, fear, stress, contamination, health issues, disgust of my ugly looks, nonstop negative feedback and feeding into OCD thoughts has...

incels.is

 

[BornToLose]

I'm coming up on five years being neet. I do not know if there is a way back.

 

[Autistic Uggo]

No, it's not reversible. By not socializing for such a long time, your reservoir of life experiences is undersized. This makes it harder to relate to other people and develop connections because you have nothing to talk about. It's not possible to catch up. I'm in a similar position to you.

The gap only widens as time goes on. If you're isolated for long enough, you will never be able to close it. I know I never will.