@DevilkinBoi: Hey, it's totally okay for it to feel so draining and leaving the group chat. Being ignored by friends is hurtful.
I went through a falling out with a person I called my best friend and one of my biggest gripes and anger points is that they shoved their interests and hobbies down my throat but took no time or effort to even TRY mine own interests/hobbies. It felt like a one-sided relationship and it was such a big point of contempt for me. And left me feeling very very bitter.

I'll be honest though I'm not the best at messaging everyday and sometimes I'll read a text and it'll be a day or two before I respond. But it's not hard to pick up a chat from where you left it off, or acknowledging the big time gap between responses.
"Hey I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner! Life has kept me busy and I haven't had much time to chat. Thanks for reaching out."

If you feel like you put in more work without getting the same amount of effort back then why do you have to put in EVEN MORE effort for people to think of you? Kinda rude and a bit dismissive tbh

If your friends are manageable and rather nice in a 1-on-1 setting keep them to the 1-on-1. There's no reason to stress yourself out or get your feelings hurt but putting yourself in an uncomfortable setting :0

Your feelings are valid and completely understandable! Peer pressure is terrible but, I don't think your in the wrong for leaving group chat, cuz I probably would have done the same thing!

@DevilkinBoi: Massive group texts/messages give me headaches because I can't truly keep up with the flow of conversation, and for me it seems to quick paced for myself to grasp or absorb anything said :T
They be overwhelming lol

It also feels so isolating to be dismissed like that, at least for me it does. Or to be talked around? If that makes sense. It kinda makes me feel like my opinions, time and ideas are undervalued :<

Sometimes advice given is not always the best advice >n<;;
If I was in your shoes I'd be feeling the same way about it.

Taking time to yourself to enjoy things you truly enjoy is refreshing! And it gives your a mind a break? If that makes sense.
Friends are great to have but sometimes taking time to do some solo stuff is nice to!
When I find my lonesome self in a hobby or fandom without an outlet of people to talk to about it, I usually look it up on reddit (or any other forum based site) and just lurk in the forums there, silently agreeing or disagreeing to opinions xD

@devilkinboi: aww im sorry u feel like that .. i had a lot of friends at one point and then grew up to realise they were just using me to fight their battles.. but i have a handful of childhood friends that i still see and meet up with... even if ur friends dont like the same things as u they should still engage in conversation with ur interests cus thats what friends do.. i never like to see anyone being left out so i will always start conversations with that person... when you feel like left out then come see us and we will talk about ur interests ^.^ my anxiety makes me feel left out sometimes but i just say how i feel and then things are ok

@LilMissKushy: I don't have a lot of remaining childhood friends since some weren't really friends to begin with. The group, I'm only there because they're friends with my best friend(I met her on a school bus). Save for one of the guys and I, they were all in the same grade(he's one grade ahead, I'm two). So they already had that rapport to begin with. And thank you for the kind words! ; w ; I'll do my best to post more around here. I can be a lurker at times.


@Kitalpha Hart: IF they even notice. Wouldn't put it beyond them not to.

@LilMissKushy: So far, none of them have messaged me. Not going to let it bother me though. Once I have breakfast, I'll think about what to do for the day.

@LilMissKushy: Might finish a piece I started coloring on Friday. I was going to continue yesterday, but after the struggle to insert the plastic plugs into my gaming chair, I gave up on the right side. They wouldn't go in no matter what I tried and my fingers were aching afterwards.

While friendship does take a little effort, I don't think it's wrong of you to want to be on the same wavelength. I'm a pretty soft spoken person too so I've had my fair share of being talked over and ignored. I try not to hold it against people because I know they're just excited about whatever the thing is, but it is incredibly frustrating. My current set of friends is very good about listening to me when I do talk because they know that I wouldn't say it if it wasn't important (i'm not a big talker to begin with). I don't think it's wrong of you to want that.

The thing about friendship is that there are many different kinds of friendships. These probably aren't your ride or die friends, but they can still be your friends. Hopefully they either include you more or at least respect your feelings on the matter.

@Priestess of Pie: The thing is, this has been something of an issue before. And my best friend replied(she messaged later) with the exact same response as back then: that I have to put in more effort, that it's a give and receive, I have to be vocal, etc. It just added to my frustration because I was again feeling like I'm the bad guy for feeling how I felt and doing what I did. I've tried to join their interests, but I can't force myself into liking the same things they do when they simply don't interest me. As for me being a talker, it depends on the group? Like... if some people are more quiet, then I tend to speak more. If it's the reverse and there are big talkers, I speak less. Some of them, I do trust more than others. The two loudest ones, there was an incident where they both rubbed me the wrong way when I was having an episode and their responses just felt extremely rude, dismissive and disrespectful. While I love my best friend, there are times I feel that she needs to turn off the psychology for a moment(she studied art therapy) and just LISTEN instead of trying to dissect things. She means well, but a lot of the time, it comes off the wrong way and I end up upset more than anything.


@Purpsy: Even though I enjoy group activities or hanging out with friends, I also enjoy solo activities. I don't like being pressured into socializing because oh, you HAVE to. Socializing too much ends up draining me and I get in a foul mood afterwards. I don't want them misinterpreting my actions as oh, he's just being dramatic and reading too much into it, when that's not the case. They can enjoy their interests, but it'd be nice if they asked about mine(which is what I told my best friend, who only replied with the give and receive comment I mentioned above). Why should it only be me who brings my interests up? Why can't they just ASK?

@Purpsy: I will admit, there's an age difference(one of the guys is a year older, I'm two years older), and most of them were in the same grade, save for one who was homeschooled. They pretty much grew up together because of school, so they've known each other for years. Some of them have been with me on one on ones and actually gotten to know me better. Others haven't. The ones that haven't are the two that are what I call the loudest, the ones who overtake the chat. I would say those two are really the big cause of why I end up ignored or my interests aren't allowed to be discussed whatsoever. I've tried to talk about them without trying to make it seem like OMG YOU MUST JOIN ME. I go about it in a way that tries to get them interested by finding something in common with what they tend to like.

For now, I won't be rejoining the chat. My best friend and I talked about it, and she agreed with giving me some space(she only told them my absense was temporary). I did get annoyed at her for saying that everyone deserves a redemption, like I did something horrible when it wasn't. But I'm leaving it be and focusing on myself for the time being. I have other people I talk to that don't act like they do.

@Purpsy: Honestly, I don't know if they ever will.