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Pressure to text friends (Fearful Avoidant Attachment or Social anxiety?)

User Profile: lemontea113
lemontea113 November 17th, 2023

I'm someone with an fearful Avoidant Attachment and I've noticed that I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to texting friends; mostly HOW OFTEN I should text friends. Have two friends who I care for very much, but I find I feel kinda pressured by their messages sometimes. I'm pretty introverted and I enjoy my alone time, and both of them text me daily. I don't necessarily mind this sometimes. Sometimes I feel okay, and not bothered when they text me. I'm not anxious, I'm just chill having a nice conversation with them. But sometimes, I feel anxious and overthink when I text, making texting feel like a chore. I opened up them both that I was introverted, and that if I didn't text them for, maybe like a few days, then it was because I had a low social battery, and they understood that! But for some reason, I still feel bad. I feel like I have to text them daily, or else they'll feel rejected or ignored. It's nothing they've done to make me feel this way, it's completely from me. I think it might be my social anxiety or even my fearful Avoidant Attachment style. I find that I worry I upset people at lot, and it's due to trauma.. so maybe that's the reason for these worries? I also feel pretty bad due to the fact that I never reach out first, which I think is due to the fact that I'm just introverted and I wait for them to text first, since they always do. But I feel bad about that. What do you think about this? What should I do to calm my nerves when I'm feeling anxious when texting, and what should I do about feeling guilty for not reaching out some days? I feel anxious even thinking about not reaching out for a day, since I feel like it'll make them feel upset or insecure. Also, is it bad that I'm not usually the first to reach out? I've reached out first today, since I'm trying to do better with reaching out.

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User Profile: soulsings
soulsings November 17th, 2023

@lemontea113 thank you for reaching out to us. What I try to do is avoid the constant interruptions of texts and emails so I set blocks of time where I dedicate to the project I am working on and then when I am done I set aside a little time to answer emails and texts. This gives me the chance not to be distracted and gets friends to hear from me. 

Maybe you are not wanting to reveal too much in texts. Sometimes privacy is important.