I’m probably just an asshole nobody wants to talk to, but I can hardly even get a reply text from anyone anymore. A couple people have told me that they are just feeling burnt out/depressed/etc and don’t have even enough energy to answer a message anymore. But I’ve also had some long time friends just entirely ghost me in the last year as well with no explanation. It feels like I’m surrounded by NPCs. I’ve basically just stopped reaching out to anyone at this point. Outside of my work, literally the only people I talk to are my parents, sister, and my girlfriend. Everyone else seems dead inside. I used to have at least 10 people who I could call on a moments notice and all of those people are gone.
Same. I’ve always been bad at replying to people in general, and it’s worse with friends that I have to hype myself up to talk to just so I can match their energy. Not their fault, of course, but as you said, you don’t want to bring your friends down.
OP, I say keep trying. Everyone needs friends and the more, the better. Just keep the judgement low and try to be understanding of where people can be at in their life journey. I promise that they will appreciate you for reaching out.
As a side note, I’ve gone years without speaking to some friends and when I’ve dug myself out of a hole or they’ve crawled out of the woodwork, we’ve reconnected. And because we were understanding and accepting of what each other has gone through, our relationship is stronger.