How do I work on not being so isolated?

You're not alone my friend, there are A LOT of people in your situation. Working all of the time to support their family, not going out and socializing, feeling lonely and depressed, and just stuck in a routine that's making them miserable. I've been in a similar situation where I didn't leave my house for months at a time after dropping out of college and developed a severe anxiety problem that I still deal with today. Didn't have a job, no girl, no friends, no aspirations, I was just stuck in my room 24/7.

One day I hit my breaking point and made a split decision to one-by-one fix what was wrong. I went back to college, joined a fraternity where I met a shit ton of new friends (which also forced me to go out and interact with strangers), got a job, and started talking to women. I took an honest account of my life and what was wrong and made adjustments.

And guess what? I still don't have my shit together. I'm not any more qualified than a guy off the street to give you advice. But I will say this: you have to sit down and articulate everything that's wrong in your life, develop a thorough plan for how you intend on fixing it, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, execute that plan. Don't wait until next week or next month to start making changes. Don't wait for the New Years. Start right now. Even as I write this I'm reminded of the changes in my own life I'm neglecting to make because I keep waiting and making excuses.

Come up with a plan and execute it. Too much time at home? Go back to college, even if it's just a local community college. Join a club, take a couple classes, really force yourself to get out and meet people. You see this advice everywhere because it's the only thing that works. College isn't your only option but it's the easiest because you're automatically sharing common ground with classmates who also want to meet new people.

As for the anxiety, schedule a doctor's appointment and talk a little about it. Doesn't mean you have to go to therapy or take meds, but just let the doc know what's going on and get some blood tests done to make sure you're healthy and nothing funky is going on. Otherwise, exercise helps tremendously with my anxiety. If you're not comfortable going to a gym right now, start with simple things at the house. Pushups, situps, planks, squats, the usual. Do it outside if you can, the sun is a great motivator. Sometimes all it takes to motivate you is to go outside and see how beautiful it is.

Force yourself to go out (even if just for a walk) a couple times a week, exercise a little every day at home, start thinking about taking a few classes, and go from there. Maybe you'll decide you hate your job and want to quit, or maybe you'll decide to move to a new town and go to a technical school. You can do whatever the hell you want to do because it's your life, and you have the power to change it at any time.

You haven't changed it because you're too comfortable with being alone and it's easier to stay at home and be miserable than to go out to the park and talk to a stranger. I speak from personal experience and take me very seriously when I tell you to get on the ball and make immediate, drastic change. It's the only way you'll be able to break out of this.

I think a lot of people come here looking for answers that they already have, they're just afraid to actually carry it out and take the advice. You just have to evaluate your life and situation, figure out what's wrong, brainstorm solutions to those problems, and get them fixed.

/r/Advice Thread