I hate the idea that I have no control over how I am perceived. People make judgements based on their interactions with me, creating an idea of me in their head. They then have the power to share their perception of me with others which may influence how other people view me. This whole idea makes me so anxious and makes me not want to socialize. Is this ocd related?
i used to have this, id recommend working on self love. you’re just assuming that people are forming negative perceptions of you based on your own thoughts about situations and yourself. so if you’re constantly thinking loads of negative things about yourself you’re gonna believe that others do too, it’s just not true. and even if it was, it doesn’t matter, you’re the only person who needs to like you. and yeah i guess it can be ocd but from my own experience working on my self esteem is what got me over it
That's true. And also, if you connect your self worth to your environment, your worth will fluctuate with each interaction. But the truth is that your worth is always the same, even IF someone doesn't like you or doesn't perceive you the "right" way. You can't please everyone. Accepting this uncertainty about how you are perceived, not being able to controll it, is part of overcoming this fear
I'm going through something similar and have been working on with my therapist. These are some statements that I have been saying to myself (with time, it influences my way of thinking): There's no way to know for sure how others are perceiving me. This is uncomfortable. I can handle this and I don't have to fix it. No matter how much I review this in my mind, I can't control or predict how others may be perceiving me.
I’m pretty sure. I have the same exact thing
It’s probably not rooted in OCD, it’s normal thoughts. your OCD is just trying to make you think too much about it.
Is anyone else obsessed with being percieved as "good" ? I get super anxious thinking people think badly of me and always try to make people have a good image of me but then i obsess over if im manipulating them to think that im good and im lying and are not really a nice person. Anyone ?
for me, i ruminate like crazy. all day, every day. 24/7 my mind is reflecting, worrying, criticizing. it’s to the point where when i meet someone new and introduce myself, i am immediately in my head thinking of all the reasons they hate me and why. i’ll literally convince myself i’m a loser or a horrible person and no one likes me. it’ll send myself into anxiety or depression spirals sometimes. but it’s literally. all. in. my. head. im recently diagnosed, and i feel like my lifelong anxiety makes so much sense now. but now i’m sooooo aware of intrusive thoughts or when my ocd is spiking. it’s exhausting.
Truthfully i am just so exhausted from being obsessed with how I affect others in my life. I am constantly questioning if I make their lives better or worse and why. I'm an extrovert and if it seems like I'm positively affecting people when I socialize, I feel on top of the world. But when I can't improve someone's mood when I talk to them I feel depressed and drained. I have this belief that I am intrinsically awful and harmful to be around and I have to be extra helpful and cheerful to make up for it. I think about the problems that everyone in my life struggles with and convince myself that I am the cause of it or making them worse. I isolate, believing I am harmful to others and I am sparing them. When they feel neglected, I panic because I caused them harm when I was trying to save them. I don't want to live like this anymore. In some ways it was easier when I was alone. I just can't stop obsessing about my loved ones in this way. I almost begin to crave abandonment because at least the thoughts would stop coming. Does that make me a bad person? I don't really actually want to be abandoned by my loved ones, but at least I know how to handle abandonment. I don't know how to handle normal loving relationships.
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