Interesting conclusion about not having friends

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I apologize in advance if what I say comes off as rude or what people like to call a "smart alec" based off of how I type or the way I structure my sentences or if my train of thought doesn't quite lead to where it should. Sorry it's a bit lengthy, but thank you to those who read and those who provide healthy advice or thoughts on my posting!

The Background: I'm currently attending a mental health outpatient program on a daily basis from morning to late afternoon. The patients' mental illness' vary from mild depression to schizophrenic paranoia, and the groups that are assigned are based off of the serverity of the patient. I am in the schizophrenic/bipolar room which consists mainly of relatively normal people who are able to manage an ordinary lifestyle without undergoing regular hosptilizations.

I had an interesting yet should have been obvious revelation at group therapy today. I stated the reason I am feeling depressed was because I'm unable to keep platonic relationships whether it be for a short or long period of time. The therapist without any further assessment on my background or any information on my personality concluded that it was due to feeling that these relationships are not enriching and benefitting to me therefore the connection is nonexistent. I always questioned why I was unable to have friends but never really internally formed the connection to the reason why. I wish he elaborated more on the solution to this constant issue instead of going on some weird tangent about some random topic.

I am also just really curious as to how the therapist would have came to that conclusion based loosely off of how I spoke and physically sat in the chair.

I mean, I do have people who consider me their "friend", but on my part, the feeling is definitely not even close to being mutual. I don't feel these people even know me because we speak on sporadic occasions and the majority of the conversations when we do have the chances of speaking do not move beyond a superficial level so I don't understand how these people can even consider me their friend..

Does anyone else have this same issue when it comes to forming friendships or have some advice for making friends-- keeping in mind of the initial paragraph above.
Is there any obvious signs to people that would incline that therapist to automatically know the issue without knowing any information beforehand about me except by how I asked the question?
When people have trouble making friends , it seems, it is for a varied number of reasons and It doesn't seem appropiate for that exact reason to fit for most individuals. (I was stating this if one made the assumption that he was saying a "one size fits all" reason to my problem)

Thanks again for reading!

The therapist's observation doesn't seem particularly deep to me. No one connects to someone unless they feel that they get something out of it, i.e. it benefits them in some way or they feel the connection enriches their lives. That's not unusual at all and applies to non-autistics as well.

I'm not able to connect to people emotionally either. The only friend I ever had started as an intellectual connection that ultimately became emotional. Even so, the friendship only lasted a year until he broke off contact. There's been some people along the way, who indicated that they'd like to be friends of sorts, but I never considered them more than acquaintances as I wasn't intellectually stimulated by them and, thus, held them at a distance.

I guess my body language also shows that I don't like to be approached. Maybe that's something your therapist picked up on in your case, too?

I guess, you have to feel stimulated in some way whether it be intellectually or emotionally to consider one your friend?

Tbh I kind of know exactly what you're saying. I had a bit of friends last year but they just didn't really care about me that much and the friendships weren't strong. I wanted to get to know some of them a little better and I did but things just declined because even if so they claimed to be my "friends" they had little care. True friends are the kind of friends that are there when your sad, when your happy, the one's that cheer you up or share experiences, not some acquaintances you occasionally hang out with and they don't really care about how you feel.

This is what you mean, right? He said you feel you can't make friendships because he thinks they can't give enough back to you from the friendship?

Because this is true for me. If I'm going to be your "friend", if I'm going to be the person who backs you up when you need help, who will do favors for you or give you a lift if you need one, then they should return how I feel or they are not a true friend to me, so I save my time and don't start a friendship that is only an illusion and wasn't actually there to them but to me only.

I cannot speak for all aspies but I think it has some truth to it for some of us. We don't bother making friends and keeping friends because we already know they won't care about us back no matter what or will think less of what we do of them. Is this what you think the therapist was saying to you?

I don't know if this is the same or not. I feel unable to make and keep friends, though, and it makes me very depressed.

What I observe is that happy people, people who have friends tend to be always busy, and they tend to see themselves as making friends easily and able to maintain friendships. So what I think might have been meant is that it appears from what I observe that the difference for people who do have friends is sometimes that they believe it's real and valuable with each interaction. They exist in and value this moment even if it's temporary and imperfect rather than questioning, doubting and analyzing. So they have friends because that's what they believe. And it may help if they have the social skills to appear unthreatening so people want to do things for them, makes it feel more reciprocal.

Humans are pack animals so they naturally feel depressed without a pacl. The two genders have separate packs though so they feel creeped by each other no matter what. Noone rejects you from the pack and everyone tries to be as good a friend as they can. Any conflicts are a result of misunderstandings. This I can guarantee.