My anxiety convinces me that everyone hates me
There is nothing worse than assumptions, especially when we are not on a good day, because they always lead us to think the worst. For example, if you are one of those who suffer from anxiety you may feel and believe that everyone around you is against you and this is not true at all.
Have you ever thought that the reality your head builds is not exactly reality? If there’s one thing we’re used to, it’s seeing things where there aren’t any and of course exaggerating. For example, many times when we are on the street it can happen that someone’s gaze crosses with ours, in the face of this our perception can be (according to the gaze) that the other person knows us and is angry, or knows us and was happy to see us. And it turns out that it was nothing like that, but that the person was thinking about something and without knowing it was looking towards you.
We spend our lives making assumptions about ourselves and the world around us without knowing the serious damage we are doing to our minds. Firstly, because we end up having a bad perception of things, and secondly, because this false reality can make us feel wrong things that affect us emotionally.
Such is the case with what happens when we feel anxiety. Anxiety is quite terrible, it is a kind of pressure we feel in the pit of our stomach or perhaps in our chest that inexplicably makes us see the bad around us. But even worse, anxiety is not just about seeing the bad, it’s about exaggerating it.
If you are sick you think that everything will get worse and you will certainly die, if you see the news and hear something bad your mind will add more strength to the event, if someone you are waiting for does not appear you assume that something bad happened to him and if someone looks at you in a way that is unsatisfactory for you, your mind will assume that he dislikes you or simply hates you.
All this is undoubtedly sickening but it is natural when we go through a time when anxiety has taken hold of us. In the face of something like this, how do we know what the truth is? Simple, just breathe, stand back for a second, look at yourself in a mirror if possible and learn to recognize when your anxiety levels are high. Once you realize that you are having an anxiety episode, it will be easier to understand that everything you see around you is not exactly as you expect.
People don’t go around hating everyone around them, even the fact that you suddenly do it with others doesn’t mean that others do it with you. Unless you’ve given them reason to hate you, don’t worry. The reality is that everything around you is going well, so it’s time to calm down, take a breath, take a moment alone and even eat something you like, and then you’ll be ready to share with others.