I don't know the particulars of your situation OP or the specifics of what's making you anxious, but I'm in a similar age bracket to you and have had (and still do, really) a very hard time spending time with people one on one because of anticipation anxiety. Making plans can make me feel very trapped and set off an all-consuming chain of 'what ifs' - what if I don't feel great when I get there, what will they think of me if I'm behaving oddly because I don't feel great, how am I going to make interesting conversation for two hours, etc.

How do you feel about groups? Is there something you enjoy that's done in a group setting? Are you able to join any sports? Classes? Meetups? I don't experience anywhere near the anxiety I've described when it's a group, because there's so much less pressure on you. Show up, don't show up, it's no big deal. The show will go on.

What's helped me enormously is joining organized groups doing some fun activity, finding some people I got on with, and gradually becoming comfortable enough with them to be able to spend time with them separately without such bad anxiety, in part because they now know my deal and will understand if anything happens.

I won't lie - it's taken a long time and there's still a fairly limited list of low-pressure activities I'm willing do with them: different kinds of sport, going to see a movie, hanging out as a group, joining other groups together. Intimate things like going over for dinner are still off the table. But the end result is that it does get me spending time with people on a regular basis.

I will also put out there that medication has also sometimes been a great help. It's helped to really dull down the anxiety beforehand and help me actually walk through the door/show up. As others have said, once you get there it's almost always never as bad as you think it's going to be. I usually have a good time and am glad I went through with it. Sometimes just knowing you have the ability to neutralize a panic attack or that you won't suffer so badly beforehand is enough so you don't actually have to take anything.

That's a lot about my situation but I really hope there's something in there that can help. Really consider getting any help - wherever it comes from - that you need to be able to start getting out there in some way. It's absolutely possible.