GalacticRoseContributor
I have no friends at work
For many years, I haven't had a single friend at work. And it's not an issue with me, because I'm a social butterfly outside of work. I just can't make a single friend at work.
I'm a woman in my 30's who's a mathematician in STEM with CPTSD and DID from severe childhood abuse. I'm outgoing and socially apt, even though my illness has severely held me back in this arena for a lot of my life. It seems like these qualities (extroversion, friendliness, expressiveness) are actually setbacks in interacting with other mathematicians. There are very few women, and even fewer women of color at work. The ones who are there are exceedingly shy and it seems they view my extroversion and friendliness with suspicion.
I'm an artist and expressionist at heart, and it seems like the style of other mathematicians is serious, analytical, and reserved and I don't know how to click with them.
This loneliness at work is making me miserable, especially since my career is difficult and involved and I'm carrying a lot of trauma from abuse at the hands of men. I wish I could make friends but none of these people are people I click with at all. I work at a university in Australia and being in academia is my dream, so I don't want to leave. If anyone has any tips or advice on how I can be less lonely and miserable at work I'd really appreciate it.