Struggling to cope

[Gravity]

Hi everyone,

Ive posted a few times in the past and things seem to be going okay then I get somewhat blindsided by something totally out of left field. This is another one of those occasions.

im nearly a 40 year old man who lives and works in the LGBTIQ community, I'm typically surrounded by supportive people most of the time and whilst I am grateful, I can't help but think that they don't actually know me and if I wasn't around then they wouldn't notice. I'm sure a few people are saying I'm being melodramatic and sometimes I even think that. I feel isolated from those around me, I rarely get asked to do things with others and when I ask people to do things I often get no response.

I feel lonely just about all the time and it is getting harder to cope with these feelings, most people my age have families, partners and something to show for their life. I don't have any of these things. The person I class as my best friend is a lot younger than me, also my ex partner who I live with. They've just started a new relationship and I feel like our friendship isn't important to them anymore. It may sound like I'm jealous and in some ways I am but not in the way you would think. I miss that companionship etc it's hard to explain without getting emotional.

Im just struggling to cope with everything right now, feeling really lost and questioning my place in the world. I keep thinking that after nearly 40 years of life I should just be able to just move on, make new friends and not dwell on the loneliness.

Not sure what to do anymore.

[Sophie_M]

Hi Gravity,

Welcome back to the forums, and sorry to hear things aren't going so well at the moment.

We'd like to direct you back to the earlier threads that you started on the forums, as you had a lot of replies from our members who reached out to support you, but then didn't hear back from you.  Replying to members is an important part of how things work here on the forums, so it would be great if you could take the time to acknowledge and respond to those members who took the time to support you before continuing this discussion.

It's also really helpful to keep to one thread for support.  It can be really challenging for the community to keep up with your story if you have a lot of threads going at once, and you may find yourself having to repeat information if your story is spread across the forum - sometimes our members will be repeating themselves as well if it's an issue you've had previously.  

Help us to support you by keeping to one thread, even if you're returning here after a period of time.  There's a lot of value in seeing how someone's story evolves over time, and when facing a new crisis it's helpful to scroll back and see how you've coped previously.

You can keep track of all the threads you've participated in at any time by using the My Threads tab.

Below are your earlier threads for reference:

New and struggling

New year

Death of an estranged parent