Benjamin Fry | Forum: Social Anxiety - Benjamin Fry | Forum

Hello, I have a 15 yr old daughter who has always had a hard time socially. She has "friends" but feels as though she does not fit in. Her friends will walk away from her and leave her behind. She is very quiet and doesn't persue any lengthy conversation. She started 10th grade this year (a battle as every school year). She feels left behind, eats lunch by herself, walks the hall by herself and feels very hurt when she sees others excitedly greeting friends they haven't seen over the summer and no body does that to her. Often times just wants to go to the bathroom to cry. She will avoid the calls, invitations, etc from her friends. I'm sure her "friends" want to be friends with her, but she barely shows interest in them. She is also doing this with her dad (we're divorced). She shows no interest and he doesn't initiate any conversation with her she she feels he doesn't care. She does have difficulty learning and is in Special Education. One of her psychological tests reveal that she has difficulty with anxiety, depression, self esteem, and social stress. She is not happy and says she never will be. Wonders why she was born when someone else could have lived a better life than she. I am seeking a counselor for her now, but until then she is now at a point where she will not go to school. She wants to explore other options. We've done homeschooling in the 8th grade (it didn't work. She lost motivation, I was lacking time). I think she attended 9th grade to try to "fit in" but ended up hanging with kids whom were skipping class and she would follow, therefore failing many classes. I've heard of adult education offering diplomas, but she would have to find transportation. My real concern is...Because of her difficulties socially, would it be best to encourage high school and to work on the social problems or would she be better off in an adult education program (which sounds to me like homeschooling, but she would have more structure and help than what I could offer her). I don't want to add to her problems, but I do want to work on them.
I'm desperate.
millt55@msn.com

Hello,

I use this website quite a lot, so just to let you know that Benjamin Fry, the site administrator, doesn't seem to reply to topics posted up on this, the 'open forum' part of the site. His advice is invaluable, so please copy and paste your question on to the 'ask Benjamin Fry' pages, rather than this one. Just worried you might not get a reply!