are friends even worth it?

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to have a friend is what i've wanted most for as long as i can remember. i want so badly to not be alone, to have some sort of relationship. it also seems to be the thing furthest from my reach. and now i'm wondering if it's even worth it. is it even fulfilling? is it incredibly difficult to maintain? too difficult?
i don't know. i feel really discouraged, and don't know what i'm fighting for anymore.
thank you.

depends on the kind of friend you're looking for. It takes time to develop a deep friendship with someone, but you're young enough to have that time. Just hang with some people who you get along with, and don't push it, just let it happen.

What is your defintion of a friend? What is it you're looking for?

It didn't bother me one way or the other five or so years ago, however I have come to realise it is important. It's not that I ever had problem attracting friends as I would be offered many opportunities to go out but rejected them all. People eventually stop calling when you don't reciprocate. Recently I've come to see that the solipsistic existence I had fallen into was resulting in mental atrophy. I have been trying to go out more and do stuff. It's been very hard though, socializing is so tiring for me and I become demoralised quickly at the slightest setback.

What do you want in a friend? Having friends comes down to

1) Never giving up
2) Keep going out to meet people

As long as you do that you should be fine, not everyone has time for deep friendships in modern society. In fact as people get older, marry and have kids, their social lives become much more restricted because of responsibilities.

The biggest thing is to realize that how you experience the world is not how other people experience you, so you if you're overly negative you should ignore your negative thoughts and just keep on trying.

i want someone to talk to, to have contact with, to support me when i need it - all reciprocally, of course.
getting married would include that, too... i just want someone...

i'm around people a lot, i join groups and go to things, but can't connect, can't even enter their little conversations - which of course don't make much sense anyway. i think i do all the right things... but don't get anywhere. i'm so tired of being alone in crowds.

I can understand you. The people I finally met who became my friends were from a university (quite late in life - I was 27 or so). Otherwise I would have been mostly alone (or with some BF which is not exactly a friend - boyfriends for me have almost always been substitutes for friends).

However I did not get ... In what way do you fight. You say you are tired of fighting.. or struggling and ask if friends even worth it. I think i will be helpful if you share what you actually do to find friends and what are you tired of.

You join groups with shared interests I take it and still aren't able to connect? Do you know anyone and have any activity that could film you interacting with people from afar as a favor? A good method I used was to see myself from the 3rd person to see how I was coming off to others.

I notice with AS is that it's difficult for us to perceive how we are coming off in the first person, but if we saw ourselves 'on tv' we 'get it' right away what we're doing wrong. You could ask someone who you see as trustworthy who runs the activities how you come off to others as well.

The good ones are worth the effort of interacting with them.

I hear you and for a young women I suppose the need for connection and friendship would be even stronger than a young mans. Even though I'm a guy I've found that most of the time friendship involves either a mutual activity that can be used to connect with another person, or usually more likely with me is just a mutual connection. I'm not sure how to put it really, it's a lot harder for me with females, but I'm working on that slowly. Hang in there !:)

you look like a very nice person and i'd like to be your friend, making friends is probably easier around your age so if you want them get started now! the older you get the harder it is to make friends

fighting in general for life instead of suicide. i try to make friends by being around people, trying to talk with them, being a nice person. i'm tired of being unable to enter into conversations and connect with anyone whatsoever, tired of searching for people who might make a good friend and trying to initiate something for it to go nowhere.

yes, i'm in shared interest groups. couldn't get filmed, but i might be able to get someone's opinion. i'm thinking about who.

thanks...

Is that a big knife you're holding in that avatar picture?

If it is, that might maybe, explain the lack of friends deal you're asking about. Try an avatar with you holding some flowers of better yet a big homemade chocolate cake and then see what happens. You look like a really nice person but that blade just messes it all up.

um... thanks for the helpful reply...
yes, it's a huge knife from nepal... i'm in my archer costume in that photo because i'd just finishing basket-weaving a quiver for my arrows...