I Am Sometimes Antisocial Forum & Chat Board | "Antisocial" behavior, misinterpreted?

It bothers me that because of my "anti-social"ness, people assume I'm just being rude or snotty or whatever. My ex-boyfriend & his friends would ask me to hang out or to do things with them, but because of my social anxiety I almost always declined. I was open with my ex about it & told him that's why I didn't want to come. I felt terrible & left out; I wanted to hang out with them & make friends but couldn't because of my intense fear. At that time I only thought about from my point of view (& perhaps a little from my ex's point of view). Anyways, since we broke up my ex has told me that his friends sometimes thought I was being rude, ignoring them & other things, because of simple things like me not saying 'hi' back to them. :(

It made me very sad to hear that because I had no idea they thought that of me. I guess since I avoid eye contact & all, I'm not very good at reading people. Plus, I had thought that I at least smiled back at them when they said 'hi' or something & that that was ok. Other people do that, right?

It hurt that people assumed things that weren't true & that I had no idea that I was giving a bad impression. It also hurt that my ex (among others) would get upset with me for things like avoiding social situations. It isn't my fault I am afraid, & I shouldn't have to torture myself just to satisfy others.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

 

I've had similar experiences, I have always been quiet, I like silence and i feel uncomfortable in groups that involve more than 2 or 3 people, specially if I'm not familiar with them.

I was once aproached by a teacher back in college and she told me that i needed to work on my attitud, that if i was going to succed in life i needed to stop acting like i was better that everybody else, i asked her why did she think that of me? and she said that i just entered the classroom and whent sraigth to my chair without aknowledging anybody, and never socialice with my classmates, and i told her that it was not the case, that i felt uncomfortable in groups, that i did't care for smalltalk and that as long as people would let me be in peace i was happy to let them be in peace as well, i also told her that i in no way fet superior than my class mates and that if i started socialising with them i would just bore them to death. afther that talk she started handig out group assignments to try and make me socialice.