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Junior Member
Member Since Aug 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 23
6 12 hugs
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#1
so, because i find it difficult to converse in person, the majority of my friends are online. i have lots of friends that i talk to on a regular basis, which i should be happy about. however, i cannot shake this underlying fear that all of them secretly hate me and are merely putting up with my presence.
for this reason, i often leave online groups seemingly for no reason. many of my friends in those groups get concerned and message me privately asking if i am doing okay. the majority of those friends still talk to me regularly. you would think this would serve as a sort of comfort. you would think that by now i would believe that they do actually care and want to be my friend. nope. still believe that they are simply doing it as some sort of strange obligation or courtesy. because of this fear, i rarely message my friends first and i often wait several hours before responding when they try to talk to me. this leads to them thinking that i don't really like them or care to talk to them, and i can sense that. i feel bad, i truly do, but my mindset is this: "i don't actually provide any sort of positivity or usefulness in their life, so whether i talk to them or not does not matter. i can easily be replaced." in that same vein, i believe that if i were to abandon my friends out of the blue and without a word, it wouldn't really affect them that much. that sounds horrible, doesn't it? i've even confronted some friends about my concerns, and these thoughts still refuse to go away even after they assure me that they do enjoy being my friend. i just don't know what to do. i love my friends so much, and they are the reason that i am still alive. it's just impossible for me to get as close to them as i'd like. __________________ diagnosed with: obsessive compulsive disorder post-traumatic stress disorder major depressive disorder binge eating disorder unknown dissociative disorder not medicated, but i probably should be |
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Anonymous43949, StripedTapir
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Poohbah
Member Since Dec 2015
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 1,280
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#2
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Anonymous43949
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#3
If you are talking to your friends on a regular basis, it is highly unlikely that they hate you. If they did, they would distance themselves or avoid you. They would not initiate the contact by messaging you either. I think it would be helpful to work out your fear with a therapist. Sending you hugs (and not out of courtesy but I mean it)!
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Threadtastic Postaholic
Member Since Dec 2018
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6,006
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#4
You know how sometimes you can set up an automatic email response when you are on vacation to let the sender know you are out of the office or away? How about coming up with a similar message to copy and paste to your friends when you are struggling?
" Thank you for your message. I struggle with ____sometimes and this is one of those days. I wanted you to know I got your message and appreciate you reaching out. I will respond as soon as I am feeling better" __________________ "I carried a watermelon?" President of the no F's given society. |
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mwaxy
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