OCD? Social anxiety? Something else?

Feel like coworkers talk about me (social anxiety?) I work at a milling shop and I’m not the best worker in the shop. I make mistakes a lot and often times move slow…. Mostly because I have severe anxiety and ocd and it does not allow me to use my brain to its full potential, I often have to step out to cope with panic attacks and am lost in my head just ruminating. Because of this I feel like my coworkers talk about me. Anytime I see my coworkers kind of whispering to each other or laughing, I always assume it’s about me. Of course I don’t know this for sure at all, I don’t even have any evidence of it, yet sometimes I find myself actually getting angry as if I already know 100% they are talking about me and thinking of what I would say if they were to confront me. I assume the same whenever I see my managers step into the office to have a discussion. Is it possible to have thoughts and feelings like these and not be crazy? I’ve heard that one of the biggest signs of early psychosis is thinking everyone is against you or talking about you ):

Dude01

Date posted: 22h

Maybe one of your Core Fears that spirals into catastrophic thoughts or paranoia is that people won't like you. But let's assume they don't like you -- Is that the end of the world? Even if they thought you were the Biggest Weirdo Ever, is that the end of the world? What matters is what you think of yourself and the people closest to you who actually know you, since they know you and you know yourself better than them. Other people's opinions don't define you. So even if they were whispering (I'm not saying they were), why would you even want to be associated with fake people like that who talk behind your back and can't say sh*t to your face? They sound like Frenemies. I understand that working with people complicates it, 'cause you need to pay the bills etc. And everyone has thoughts like that sometimes. Just because you have one particular intense trait doesn't mean you have "psychosis." You would need to go in and get a full diagnosis etc. At one point in my life, I thought I had "social anxiety." Turns out, I was just playing videogames too much and living like a freakin hermit. But I get that people do have genuine social anxiety too. I think a little social anxiety is natural. No one is perfect in social situations etc. But I think a lot of that society goes away when you realize that it's "ok" if people don't like you. If someone doesn't like me IRL, screw them, they're probably not someone I'd want to be friends with anyway. I got in a fight once (with a frenemy), it got ugly, they "didn't like me" etc. It was actually freeing and needed 'cause looking back, they were always a frenemy. So then I was like, "so what?" Get rid of toxic people in your life. But like I said, with co-workers it's more tricky, so I don't have a lot of advice there because it's for a paycheck. You can always become an entrepreneur and be your own boss...

CatGee

Date posted: 20h

There’s no way to know if they’re talking about you when you’re not around. They might be. They might not be. Either way is okay. I think it’s common to wonder about this when you’re struggling. I talk about my co-workers so I assume they’re also talking about me. Just keep on with your therapy and treating your OCD/anxiety. You take care of you.

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