I feel myself going through the same thing, I find it hard to intiate conversations with people, even friends. I feel really weird and out of place, for no significant reason, but when I do have an occasional drink or two, I'm a social bee and ready to confront anyone. I was working on an assertiveness project in psychology and felt that I needed to be more assertive, rather than, aggressive/passive/indirect. I've come across a few places where they offer assertiveness training, but I'm not sure if that's what I need, but I definitely need to build up on confidence to be an assertive person. Anyway just thought I'd share with you, because I've been having a hard time with this shit as well.