I have had this issue. It's taken me a very long time (think years) of working on this in therapy and making attempts to connect even at the acquaintance level. I'm just now starting to make friends with one or two people.

I think the biggest thing that helped me was joining a peer support group. This allowed me to try out my social skills in a safe environment with other people also struggling with mental health issues. You may have a community mental health center in your area that offers support groups, but if you don't or you're unsure, you can contact NAMI - the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They offer resources as well as free peer support groups all over the US.

You can check them out here:

https://nami.org/

to either find a group or to call them for help finding some support.

Sorry you are going through this andio, I have the same problem after moving to a new area so I feel for you. I don’t know what I’ve said or done wrong sometimes. I find groups threatening at times as well, if one person doesn’t like you they recruit others against you even in support groups. I wonder why people find friendly overtures wrong when they are often lonely themselves?

I know that feeling. I absolutely hate giving cliched advice, but don't stop trying. If you stop trying it's one way to guarantee failure. It's what I did, shut myself off for a long time, it made things way worse and gets you into a far bigger hole. You completely lose the ability to socialise and connect. Warning about the online friends, they can be useful in ways but in my experience they are not a good substitute for the real thing. I hope you manage to find a connection soon, it's no fun being alone.

I hear ya. I just met someone on a find friends app. It's like pulling teeth, trying to connect. He acts like it's a bother...to talk to him. Bumble app if your wondering. Bff section.