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Can't stand people looking at you?

39K views 23 replies 23 participants last post by  wwefwjndrg3274  
#1 ·
I don't know why, but I can't stand when people watch me, or even look at me for a few seconds. I feel like they're invading my space, or like they're trying to invade my personal thoughts. It makes me mad when I realize someone was watching me and I didn't know it. Even when I'm doing something simple like making food and someone watches me, or looks to see what I'm making, I get angry. Does anyone else go through this?
 
#4 ·
Me too. i hate going up to buses because everyone stares at me like I'm some kind of freaks! .. i get very nervous. i always try to avoid and don't bother about their stares...
 
#8 ·
Has anyone walked pass group of people who were just looking at you and hear them laugh and get paranoid they were laughing at you?That happens to me alot I always feel so horrible.I always think to myself what about me made them laugh.
 
#10 ·
Same, I usually completely stop whatever activity I am doing until they move on. I especially used to hate it in art class when people would stand behind me and try to watch me draw/paint. I am starting to get over this for some things like walking ahead of another person, but still can't write infront of someone.
 
#12 ·
It depends on the context, I guess. I can deal with one or two people looking at me as long as I don't know or don't care what they're thinking. I have a problem with being the center of attention with a lot of people looking at me when I know (or have a pretty good idea) what sorts of thoughts they're having.

It bugs me a little bit if someone just stares at me for no apparent reason but it's not such a big deal for me.
 
#13 ·
I'm glad other people know what I'm talking about. It's like in class or in other crowded places I just sit and can hardly move, because if I do move, or drop a pen on the floor and have to reach down to get it, it will call attention to me. Even if someone looked at me for one second as they saw me pick something up, or sneeze or something, I hate it, and I want to freeze and just sit there not moving at all. That is the thing that makes me nervous.

When people I know or live with stare, that makes me angry. I think, "What right do they have to be curious about what I'm doing," or "What makes them think I want to share what I'm thinking about with them?" I feel like they're trying to invade my brain.
 
#21 ·
It makes me really uncomfortable, just like if someone is standing too close or reading over your shoulder, only a billion times stronger.

If I can feel someone scrutinizing me (or it feels that way, even if they aren't), I can feel my stomach churn and I just want to go bury my head in the sand or crawl under a table (or any piece of furniture that I can fit underneath), and curl up into a ball and cry like a little girl. Sometimes I can even know it is only irrational thoughts, but I just can't shake that horrible, self-conscious feeling.

When I am in the middle of doing something and feel someone looking at me, if I don't completely freeze up it is inevitable that I will majorly screw up the task, even if it is something I have done thousands of times and could do backwards in my sleep.

For example, last week at work I was making a tape of some weights on the calculator (not complicated, trained monkeys could do that), and my co-worker came up and stood behind me and watched with her hands on her hips. Then of course I screwed it up, and she bustled in to save the day and read the weights out to me. It was kind of humiliating and I felt really stupid. That always happens right when she happens to look over my shoulder and she'll say something like, "What are you doing?"

I feel like I need some blinders like you would use for a horse or for a trained bird. Maybe I'll just have to wear sunglasses all the time, but that wouldn't help much in the workplace where people can see what you are doing and all the ways you are screwing things up.

I'm glad other people know what I'm talking about. It's like in class or in other crowded places I just sit and can hardly move, because if I do move, or drop a pen on the floor and have to reach down to get it, it will call attention to me. Even if someone looked at me for one second as they saw me pick something up, or sneeze or something, I hate it, and I want to freeze and just sit there not moving at all. That is the thing that makes me nervous.
Same here! Then if I have to cough or I have to scratch an itch it becomes all I can think about, that and how ridiculous I feel because I probably wouldn't even notice something like that if it was another person.
 
#14 ·
This is one of the things i hate most. Whenever i m in the middle of an activity and someone just takes a curious look, it drives me crazy, i just can t continue with someone else around because it feels like i m being examined and my method judged.
 
#20 ·
This is one of the things i hate most. Whenever i m in the middle of an activity and someone just takes a curious look, it drives me crazy, i just can t continue with someone else around because it feels like i m being examined and my method judged.
me too

I mean, though, I usually have to continue, esp if it's in class
 
#18 ·
I have the opposite effect. I watch people, but not to freak them out. They are intimidated by it and all I know is I am afraid to say even a Hello. It's like I am a mute or something. :(
 
#22 ·
I absolutely cannot stand people staring at me. I feel like every time they do that, they will say something to me or just talk amongst themselves and they'll tell each other "Do you see that boy over there? EEWWW, he's so ugly!". I feel like they're judging me, and I get extremely nervous. If I see someone staring at me I will just freeze and I won't even move.