There are a lot of reasons I find it hard. I prefer being alone to being around other people. I assume other people are thinking badly of me. Chaotic/unhealthy relationships seem normal to me because of the environment I grew up in. I have poor boundaries and am not great at defending my own boundaries. There's also just ... I'm not sure how the interchange is supposed to work? Like I don't want to have a friend that I talk to every day, that would be way too much for me. Most people I would be happy to see every three months.

I agree with MickeyCheeky that practice really helps. It's a lot easier for me to be social if I make the effort to be around other people regularly. I've also tried to be really aware of not becoming friends with people who are very much like my parents. It's sort of creepy how often I wind up doing that. It's hard to make good friends, that is for sure!