Writing As Coping

I tend to be uncomfortable and reserved around people I don't know very well... usually because I'm afraid I'll say something that might alienate them or make me look bad. In large classes I tend not to talk because there are so many people I don't know or am not particularly comfortable with. Because of this there are a lot of people that think I don't talk, and I'm pretty sure they think I'm aloof or something, if they think of me at all. When I'm comfortable with someone or a group I become an entirely different person--is that unusual?

I tell myself that I shouldn't care what other people think about me, but I'm very bad about taking my own advice.

My entire family tends to be pretty bad at communication, so rather than talking about my feelings, I bottled them up.

Writing was the only way I could get my feelings out without becoming an emotional wreck, so I definitely write a lot better than I speak, at least in situations with strangers or high emotion times.