Re: Those suffering from depression/low self esteem how often do you go out to bars/c
We don't have a pub/clubbing culture where I'm from.
I have friends/acquaintances asking me to come along with them from time to time to some sort of social outings. But I rarely agree to.
That is mostly due to me thinking of the social outing in a sort of irrational way. I see it not as a get together of friends, but as an arrangement where someone is paying for your enjoyment, thereby putting you 'in debt' to them in some way. It really bothers me and then I feel like I need to reciprocate that (which I do, on my birthday etc.) by paying for a party of my own and inviting the same people as a means of 'paying them back' for the earlier party. This becomes much more difficult when the party is being thrown by someone much richer than me. So, I won't be able to pay back in kind since I am not as rich or can't afford to spend that much in reciprocation.
So, the richer/more spendthrift the other person is, the less likely I am to attend a social event organized by them.
This even seeps to little things where I wonder if I should accept someone's birthday gift to me (I've stopped accepting any for the sake of my sanity), or whether I should visit someone's home lest they invite me to a meal at their place (I haven't visited any of my 'friends' at their home since I was in 6th grade or so).
So, coming back to the original question, it would be very difficult for me to accompany someone to a pub or club unless we agree to split the expenses equally. And even if we did, I still have very poor social skills so it would be an effort to agree to go anyway.