Help! I´m having trouble making friends, and i don´t know why!

Hello!

You say you are having trouble making friends, while also not understanding why it´s difficult for you. This is a bit tricky for me to answer for you, because i don´t know what exactly you find difficult about making friends. Is it difficult for you to talk to strangers, or do you find that you try to talk with others and make friends, without them reciprocating the talking back? 

Think about what exactly you find difficult about this, and maybe that will help you get some clarity about this. I will try to respond to you as well as i can, but if you want to send in your question again with a little more information on your situation, you are welcome to do so. 

When it comes to making friends, a lot of it relies on you being brave and making an effort! Nothing social happens if you don´t try to move out of your comfort zone and talk to people that maybe aren´t exactly like you. Before talking to new people, it helps to have prepared some topics you can talk about! Questions are also great if you want to get to know someone new and make friends, while simultaneously taking the pressure off you in the conversation! If you do these two things, it will help make the conversation flow easier. 

Topics you can talk about should maybe be based on your own interests, but you should also ask about things that you might not care as much about. Talk about their families, what they think about a particular movie, and so on.. You can ask about their hobbies, what their favorite artist is and maybe what their favorite animal is. This way, a conversation is started easier, and hopefully it will make the people you meet more comfortable with you, because you seem in control and relaxed in the conversation? 

Remember to breathe continuously when you meet someone new, and try to let your own personality shine through, no matter how scary it may feel. It will be all right! Just focus on being nice, laughing and making jokes here and there, and getting to know the other person. Those are the most important things, and if you can manage that I´m sure you´ll make friends in no time! 

I´m going to link some articles for you underneath this answer, that I recommend you check out. (However, you may have to translate the site to read them). Good luck! 

Hilsen ungdomsredaksjonen.