I feel lonely, what do i do?

[Claire Voyant]

I know exactly what you're going through, you are not alone.

I was bullied quite badly in 5th and the beginning of 6th grade for dumb reasons- because I was smaller and skinnier than everyone. It was physical and verbal abuse; the bullies constantly physically hurt be because they were stronger than me and due to my small stature they also made fun of me. I also grew up with abusive parents, they would verbally abuse me since I was about 5 and would never let me be myself around them. As a result, I never really had any parental figures to look up to. (Yes, my parents took care of me, but they never provided the emotional support that I needed.) I've always been very shy since I was a young child- I don't know if it's due to the emotional neglect from my parents, or if it's just my nature. So I've never had many friends at school, and was often excluded from the friend groups that I did have. Since 7th grade I've dealt with cystic acne, and to this day I have people asking me what's wrong with my face. I can't help but feel self conscious when people speak to my face because I think they're judging me.

Like you, I used to stress a lot about who accepted my friend requests on Facebook, who liked my pictures, etc. But then I realized how pointless it is. Why do people pretend Facebook is just as important as reality? Look at the people who are socially prominent on social networking sites, and ask yourself, do you REALLY want to spend so much time building up an online profile, and forget about building your character in real life? Moreover, Facebook's just a fad, in a couple of years it'll die out and decades down the road you'll be glad you never really got into it.

But, what I really want to tell you is to NEVER LOSE HOPE. This is something I've found out recently. By recently, I mean last week. This year things have been horrible for me, my grades have been low, my parents were talking about getting a divorce, I realized that all of my friends were horrible people and began to question if I really had any friends, and a result my depression got much worse. But, all of these things happening in my life miraculously played out for the better. A guy who I didn't really talk to (didn't really like him, either) noticed me crying one day in school, and asked me what was wrong later. I vented to him about everything, and we ended up having a nice conversation, discovering that we're more alike than either of us had expected. I don't think I've ever met anyone who understood me more than he did, and I honestly believe he may have saved my life (I was contemplating suicide). And I discovered that just talking to someone who understands you makes you feel 200% better, maybe it's because I just needed to vent, or because I felt lonely. Whenever I'm around him or even talking to him online, I don't feel depressed.
Who do I thank for this miracle? God. When my parents were discussing divorce and all that stuff was happening, even though I was tempted to, I didn't lose my faith in God. I still prayed every night with the hope that things would get better. I don't know if you're religious, but you mentioned losing faith in God at one point. If you don't believe in God then you can just ignore this part because I'm not forcing you to believe anything.

So my advice for you?
1. Stop taking social networking so seriously.
2. Make friends with someone who understands you. (It may just be someone who you dislike and never talk to, it happened to me.)
3. Don't lose hope.