>>33607203 (OP)
I wasn't a complete social retard when I started in March, but I was uh.. indoors, not taking showers, not cleaning my house, for a couple of months.
Way I turned it around is I went to meetups from meetup.com , started with hiking (which includes day trips and cool activities), then moved to boardgame meetups, then D&D, did a language eve, then gained confidence enough to start social events like meaningful conversation evenings, bar meetups just to talk, dinner with strangers, picnics with strangers, probably more things that I already forgot about by now.
So I was basically pushing myself out of fear, facing it all on my own, being extremely miserable BEFORE each event but being extremely happy during&after each event, overall improved significantly. Was very not talkative and awkward at the beginning, became a social butterfly by the end. Topped it all off with a multi-day trip with my hiking group.
Now I'm dancing Bachata and Salsa and I joined a choir because I decided I want to have 1) consistent hobbies, and 2) in my own area instead of far away.
So yeah.. Gradually through these meetups I met people I vibed with, and they became my friends. Friends is a very loose term, for me it was really hard to call someone a friend cuz I feel like no one cares enough to be truly a friend, so I just changed the meaning. Friend is someone who I meet once in a while and get to experience something I otherwise wouldn't have experienced if I didn't know them. They sometimes give me their time. It's not necessarily that I can rely on them emotionally, unfortunately. But, friends vary, and some ARE emotionally rewarding. I even made about 3 or 4 girl friends. But no romantics. Every time I expected something - it made the experience worse.
Yeah, you're welcome, these are my real experiences from March this year till July. In Aug I relapsed HARD and became potato again, now recuperating.
After every meetup there's a crashout due to loneliness. But keep, going.