I Think People Think Something Bad About Me

Reader’s Question

I am a 28-year-old male. And have been suffering from several problems for 12 years now. The most occurring is feeling that people think something bad about me, although I know that is not true. Also, if I get very stressed, I become afraid of mostly all of the people and have various scenarios about my doom. My girlfriend claims, when that happens, I behave as a different person. I am successful in college, graduating in two months, and have good prospects in my career. I am very sociable, and people enjoy my company, although I don’t have too many people I confide in. Any ideas?

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

From your description, you may be living with a moderate depression. When depressed, the brain torments us with feelings that make us uncomfortable. In public, the additional tension makes us feel that people are staring at us, making judgments about us, and thinking something bad. Depression also torments us with our dreams and daydreams. Keep in mind that what we think is how we feel. If we imagine/daydream about death and doom — our brain changes it’s chemistry and we remain depressed. We behave as a different person because our mood has changed. No matter how successful we are, chronic depression keeps our self-confidence and self-esteem very low. When people like us, our depressed brain tells us “They really don’t know how bad I am.” Remember also that obligations and responsibilities, including positive ones such as graduate and employment opportunities, are stressful events.

I would recommend reading about depression on this website. You can also take a few of the depression tests available. Seeing a counselor will also help as you need to sort out what symptoms/feelings may be related to depression and what might be related to personality or issues in your history.