Thanks for sharing your story.

Once I told my colleagues at work that I go to the cinema alone, which is something I do every week, and they said it is not good to be alone in the cinema. I guess everyone feels the pressure that being alone is, for some reason, something not desirable.

For me it is the only viable option, since I asked people to go out together in the past, but gave me excuses. At first, I stayed at home as a result, but then I decided that no one can stop me from going out and enjoying my time, at least I would stop my downward spiral to craziness. It was a huge step for me to break the barrier and go out alone as I exerted a lot of mental effort on it, because I felt negatively about it.

Now I don't have problems in going out alone, at least sometimes, but I still have this inner feeling of awkwardness, which sometimes makes me to withdraw.