I’m someone who craves (and thrives) on intimacy and closeness. I’m never been afraid to be vulnerable (I’d actually had to learn that I shouldn’t be vulnerable with everyone). I love it when someone is really passionate about something, even if that thing bores me to tears. I love hearing about peoples’ hopes, fears, dreams, opinions…

But I often feel like people hold me at arm’s length. Like they say, “OP, I like you, you’re interesting, but stay right there.”

And it doesn’t seem like it’s a matter of following the “relationship journey” either. It seems like eventually I hit a wall of someone not wanting me to come any closer. And it hurts.

Being neuroatypical I do realize I have an intense personality so people may not know how to interact with me. That may be part of it.

Anyone else experience this? How do you cope?

  • @Nonameuser678@aussie.zone
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    51 year ago

    People have all kinds of personal reasons for keeping their distance from others, which are all valid of course. However as a neurodivergent person myself who also experiences this freezing out from others, I can’t help but think it’s linked to the fact that they’ve clocked me as different. Often people are motivated by building social capital and I don’t have much of that so I feel like people think there’s just no real benefit to connecting with me.