I think that until you can work through your fear of people just a bit, building a support system is going to be very hard. You have to actually interact with people to be able to establish a relationship, and then trust, and then support.

Is there a hobby you enjoy that might have group activities? What about taking a class at a local community college?

I have a very hard time meeting new people...but I love training and competing with my dogs. I enrolled in training classes with my dogs and ended up making friends from people that I trained or competed with. Most of those people are just acquaintances, but a few that I felt I had things in common with became closer friends. I started building those friendships by spending more time with them, doing things outside of dog related activities, and actually talking to them about meaningful things. I now have two very close friends that I know I can rely on for just about anything, and I have a large network of friends that will support me if they are able to.

I didn't realize how much of a support network I had until I had a tragedy occur last summer. I received so much support and strength from people that I didn't expect it from, and that was just so amazing to me.