bdub02

I have had this real close online friend for a few years now. We used to spend hours talking about anything and everything. We even met in real life and were just as good of friends there. This was the first person in my life I could really open up to and be myself around. Lately, however, it seems as though we are running out of things to talk about. I mean there's not much we haven't talked about so starting a random conversation about something would more than likely be a repeat of a previous conversation. Sometimes I start asking questions to keep the conversation going, but then he gets annoyed because the questions I am asking have no real meaning. I feel our friendship distancing and I don't want that because this person is the ONLY friend I have. I'm in an unfortunate situation which prevents me from having real friends but thats another issue for another thread. How would be the best way to keep this friendship going and return to what we once had?

I'm a junior in college and haven't had any true friends since 6th grade. I wish somehow, someway that could change.

I graduate in Spring 2008. I get extremely jealous of my peers to the point it causes physical pain, because they all have lives I would so much love to enjoy. I compare my life to theirs because I should be having the best time of my life right now. When I talk to my best friend online it hurts when he tells me all the fun stuff he does with his college friends and I have to reply with something along the lines of "Sounds like so much fun, but I could never do that because my parents wont let me." My best friend had a life very similar to mine in high school, but he went off to college. I envy him because his life is what I could have had if I wouldn't have been blinded by love. It looks like there is no easy solution to this =(. I dont think I could approach my parents about this another time because of how harshly they react when I do. They tear me down emotionally in a way that I feel I have no choice but to submit. I dont know how they do it. As of now, I'll start considering the student loan thing again, although that will bring problems of its own.

All my family is part of the same church so it would be no better with any of them. I have seriously considered the dorm issue. Getting a dorm would require me take out a student loan, which my parents have said they would do everything in their power to prevent me from doing. If I did that, I would not be able to return to my parents if i ever needed to and I would be placing myself in a financial burden. Second, roommates are hard to come by when you don't have any friends. I do have one acquaintance from high school who I could possibly room with, but he's gay and while I dont have anything against gay people (most of them are very understanding), but I am scared to do that because I would basically be cast out of my family for associating with a homosexual. I would no longer exist to them. If it didn't work out with him, then where would I go and what would I do? As of now thats not really an option but maybe somebody can give me some ideas.

Ive dealt with this for so long and I'm severly scarred mentally and emotionally. I've not socially developed with others my age because of it. I have no friends because of it and I am so lonely I frequently think of suicide. Its my fault because I chose to stay here rather than go off to college because of a significant other I had at the time. How love blinds. There has to be some solution short of quitting school and leaving cold turkey.

Moving out would require I quit school and get a full time factory job. I'm attending a local college right now on a scholarship. Getting a better part time job/co-op isn't an option because I don't have the connections, ether through friends or family to do it (I am in a rural area). Like I said, I'm stuck with my parents and will be for at least another year and a half. I have to figure out a way to make it work, and its not working right now.

Not sure where I should put this, so bare with me if this is the wrong section. This question is somewhat related to the one I posted a while ago about having no friends in college. This is long, but Ive needed a place to vent about this for a long time. I've thought hard about it and I've come to the conclusion that my parents are the root of all my other problems that have me so depressed as of late, including the reason I have no friends. I am 21 years old and unfortunately am still stuck at home with parents. I dont make enough money to support myself on my own (apartment, etc). My parents, however, don't seem to realize I'm no longer 10 years old. They never let me go anywhere or take any trips. They are suspicious of anything I attend or try to do with a friend. They keep total control and total track of everything I do in life. If I ever did anything with friends (which I don't because its hard to make friends being tied down like this), I would have a midnight curfew. That is totally laughable to my peers. Its like I'm a prisoner. The only place they give me any kind of room is at church, which brings me to my next point. My parents are strict fundamentalist Christians, to a degree that its near insanity. They keep me tied down because they fear that associating with "the world" will cause me to fall away from Christianity. I've tried reasoning with them, and it can not be done. They yell "as long as you are in my house you obey my rules!" They even attack me personally telling me things like I am bound for hell and stuff because I work on Sundays. Its become that I'm afraid to even approach them because they are so harsh, hateful, and closed minded, and its all in the name of Christianity. They threaten to kick me out over simple things such as not walking THEIR dogs. If they ever found out I took a drink of alcohol, no matter how moderate, they would kick me out of the house and take away my car. They wont let me visit my best friend who lives about 8 hours away, nor will they let him visit me because to them a guy who would go that far to visit a male friend has homosexual tendencies. I could go on and on with more stuff but I will cut it to the point. Is there any way I can convince my parents that hiding me away from the world isn't going to make me a better Christian, but is rather going to make me rebel against the faith? I'm 21 years old, most people my age are living in college dorms or apartments. If they are with parents, they are pretty much allowed to do as they please. Situations like mine are rare to hear from teenagers today, let alone people my age. How can I convince them to let go and let me make my own decisions in life? Thanks for any replies.

Thing is I don't right now. I had them in high school though. I could have probably turned them into better friends if my parents weren't so strict about me going out. I do know some party type people I could possibly hang with but like I said, I'm not that type. I dont enjoy being around their sense of humor and I dont relate well to them. A big problem i think, relating to the lines of the people that said to transfer schools, is that most intellectual type people whom I would relate well to would not go to a local college like mine.

Yeah, you have one lifelong male friendship, but at least you have somebody. I have nobody. Its better to have a few close friends than many acquaintances that dont really care about you. Tomorrow's friday and I'm going to be sitting here at home because I have nobody to go out with or hang with or even call up and ask. Transferring schools is an idea, but my parents wouldn't support me in doing that at all. I would also have to give up my scholarship at my current university. I could do it, but it would be an extreme risk.

I'm in my junior year of college and college has been the worst time of my life. I have absolutely no friends. I haven't had a girlfriend either. I realize its my fault because I chose to live at home and commute to school rather than go off and have the traditional dorm experience where lifelong friendships emerge. Being that its a local school, I also have the barrier of still well formed high school cliques. When you are dealing with groups that have been together since kindergarten, its very hard to penetrate that. Its even worse now than it was when I started school, because most college friendships have already formed. Considering I'm not a partier, and even if I was I couldn't drink having to drive the distance I do back home, ive come to the conclusion that making friends at this point is impossible. After having a similar high school life where I sat at home all the time and didn't have any friends (back then it was because of my parents' strict rules), I thought college would allow me to make the friends I always wanted. Other people who had a similar high school situation as mine raved about how great college was and how much easier it was to find your niche. I had high hopes for this time of my life. I was so wrong. I am feeling so hopeless and suicide crosses my mind daily. After having such a terrible high school and even worse college life, what else is there to have hope about? I've been screwed out of 8 hopeful years of my life. I'm so lonely i dont know how i can go on. Somebody give me advice. Thanks.