I have a certain shyness towards my family.

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I seem to have a problem socializing with my family, I don't talk to them very much when they're around and it's like I'm afraid talking to them even though they're not all that bad.
Whenever it's their birthday it's like I have to force myself to say happy birthday, I also never buy anything for them. When my dad was in the hospital I barely said anything apart from 'hey', I even had to force myself to ask how it was going and for the rest of the day I didn't say anything. It's not that I didn't care, it's just that I was to shy to say anything. I know they have some problems with their life but I never address those. Whenever they ask me something I usually only respond with yes or no unless it's an open question in which I have to respond to.
I also never call any of my family and they're kinda pissed because of it. I just never know what to say and when I do know I just don't say it because I'm afraid to. Also whenever I'm talking to somebody outside of family I get shy as well if my parents are near me. But if they're not there while talking to this person I would feel comfortable. It's like I'm afraid to show I'm growing up and that I can be social.

The weird thing is that I don't have this problem with my friends, I'll be social with them and even initiate conversation, I can even talk to girls. But if my parents are near I'll freeze up.
They often think I'm egoistical but I'm far from it, I just don't know how to express my feelings.

Anybody have any thoughts about this? If I had to guess It's probably because with my friends I don't have to be serious most of the time and with my parents I usually do.

I find my family very difficult to be around because I care about them too much.

I feel the same way too - mostly because I don't feel like I want to associate with the few family members I have, and my parents are IMO dysfunctional - my control freak mom and aspie dad always get into fights about little crap and I can't stand how my mom thinks because she doesn't use logic. Being a 1st generation Asian American does blow.

yeah my parents are dysfunctional as well, my dad used to be a drunk and chain smoker and my mom is just stupid.

Well I wouldn't say it's that drastic, they never did anything really bad to me, also I'm 21 and I don't really care what they think. I also know that they can't handle criticism, everything they do is right and whenever I criticize them for something they don't listen and just get mad. I know for a fact that this is why I don't try to argue with them and why I don't talk much because they won't listen anyway. It still doesn't explain why I'm shy near them and like I said this also happens with my other immediate family.