Marknis wrote:
I feel like I should go on another hiatus. I just feel so drained from not being able to post a tale of success after the speed dating event got postponed, I can’t look in certain sub-forums (L&D and Adult to give some examples) without getting depressed even though I used to post in them but a lot of my ghosts of past failures inhabit those places, I feel upset that certain people I used to talk to are no longer here or the ones that are still here refuse to talk to me, and I don’t fit in with most circles across the online autism communities. I feel like an outsider in what is supposed to be my culture. Should I just go on another hiatus and come back if the speed dating event actually goes through or should I just disappear for good?
There's definitely people who will miss your presence if you leave, not that you owe us your presence.
Based on a few of the threads on here there's a lot of posters who struggle with feeling out-of-place and friendless on here. A lot of that might be directly a result of how ASD impacts us; previous social failures make many of us less certain about how to establish and maintain friendships so people hesitate to try to start them and/or fail to remain invested in them.
It can be really discouraging in communities like this to feel like you still don't fit in. I feel that way a lot here. At times it helps to remind myself that some of that feeling comes from inside due to not fitting in being a constant throughout my life. There's also a lot of people here who often don't bother to post how they feel very often but are still fond of other posters.
You should do whatever is in your own best interests but I hope that will be to continue to participate.