Is it just me that feels cripplingly lonely?

I'm a fine art student and honestly I haven't really gotten to know anybody, or even said 'hi' more than once a week to people I see in my studio or flat.

I've always been a loner so I'm used to it and I can entertain myself (I'm a gamer and I watch a lot of catch up tv and I also have a girlfriend that I see on weekends), but I always thought uni would be different, that I would make a change and my life would be completely different and full of new people.

I realise you may be thinking I'm simply not making an effort but honestly I do try, I approach people in my studio and try talk to them a bit and my flatmates too, probably doesn't help that all my flatmates other than 1 (but he's foreign and I think a bit older, I'm 19) and studio sharers are female and I'm male, I feel that is just an excuse though. Anyway I don't know what's the norm here but I'm kind of struggling being alone.

I think I may not have made friends with my flatmates because my girlfriend is at another uni in London and I go see her a lot and she comes here, I've been invited out a couple times by my flatmates but it's always when she's here, my girlfriend seems awkward about it and says "you can go but I'll stay here" I know that trap and I avoid it like the plague of course, but now my flatmates don't ask anymore which is getting me down since they come in early in the morning together after seeming to have had a great time at the bar or whatever and I don't have the confidence to just invite myself along, for fear of rejection or the awkwardness created by being an unwanted tag-along, also they're mainly girls how can I just ask some of them to a bar for a drink and a chat without feeling like it might be coming off wrong, I only see one at a time in the kitchen and I'd feel way to creepy knocking on their doors and making them all come in for some sort of horrifically tense and unwanted group meeting. One of them tried to get into my room while drunk, the rest of them laughed along, I said they woke me up because it was early morning and I didn't want to seem like a loser for staying up till 3 playing video games on my own.

I read that people make better friends on their course but honestly I've not had the chance to speak for more than 5 minutes to anyone on my course. I am quite shy and maybe that's my downfall but I would still appreciate some advice.

It sounds like you've been spending so much time with your girlfriend you've not been able to connect with your flatmates. People never want to be a third wheel and intrude on a couple when they're together, so that makes people back off when your girlfriend is there with you, which seems to be often. If you want to bond more with your flatmates you'll have to spend less time with your girlfriend and more time with them.

Don't be brutally honest, that'll drive people away and they'll think you're a weirdo. Just ask the girl if she wants to go and do something along with some other people that she knows (so it doesn't seem like a date) and take it from there. It seems like you simply need to be more present in other people's lives, that's the only issue. Really, even the most socially inept people are capable of making friends simply because they show up.

I waited to reply because I wanted to try it out, I spent most of the day in my studio and talked to this girl and she invited me along to a talk and then drinks and I got to know a bunch of people I'd already met some more and we got along great and I was invited to something else too and I said I could go but my girlfriend was upset and I had to go see her, honestly it seemed casual so I'll just explain when I next see them I doubt it will be awkward, I felt ill when I first went out but I thought I best go since if you miss the first time you're invited you're probably not getting invited again. So it should be fine I think, anyway thank you for your help it really worked and has made my life better, much appreciated