hmm if I'm with friends I'm ok but on my own I been told I look like a zombie... When I'm on my own I just slip into a day dream until I reach my destination.

 

Yeah

Depends who I'm walking past at the time, groups of teens/youths make me feel incredibly uncomfortable as I'm expecting them to randomly start bursting out laughing or confront me about something for no real reason. (wouldn't say this is completely irrational either as it's happened in the past :roll)

I have a tendency to stare at the floor/my feet when I'm walking around to avoid eye contact with people. Sometimes I try and force myself to look up and focus straight ahead into the distance but in doing this I quite often find myself holding my breath or something when I'm close to someone, not sure why exactly, like I'm waiting for something to happen or I just want to get past that awkward moment.

Tiresome.

 

I am comfortable being around people. I don't pay all that much attention to them. It is when people that I don't know start talking to me that I feel completely yanked out of my comfort zone.

 

Yeah, I feel awkward and uncomfortable walking outside. Though I did get a assignment from my psychiatrist to walk each day from evening and gradually move to early afternoon. My feet are aching just thinking about it, and not in a good way. But I guess it should help me.

 

People give weird looks because my posture and walking style is bad.Also i look at the ground while walking a lot of the time as i cannot bear eye contact with people so i give off all the wrong vibes to people so i feel really awkward.

 

Walking on the streets? No, because I drive everywhere I go. I don't usually get uncomfortable when walking by people (like to class or in stores), but I have trouble on where I should focus my eyes. I don't want to look right at them, so I usually look to the side.

 

yes. looking in my phone, having a hood on, or happy when its raining so i can use my umbrella is a comfort zone for me when im walking in public. i just feel like im being watched or i look stupid.

 

no, ive never had this problem.
For me its the communication part that scares me...
People can look at me all they want. Why do you care if people stare at you?

 

I feel uncomfortable when guys whistle at me when I'm walking. I find it disrespectful when they do that.

 

I feel very self-conscious when I'm walking. I look at the ground a lot to avoid making accidental eye contact with anyone. I try to think about something else to distract myself.

 

Yeah, i always feel like people are staring at me where ever i go, just paranoia i know. I also hate when cars drive near me i always fear that the people inside are looking at me judging me. I tend to look at people when i'm in the car as a passenger just i assume others are doing the same, although they might not be.

 

Not really.

 

Yes! I get that feeling all the time, except that I feel it when I'm alone. Sometimes, I get freaked out and hide myself in the toilet. Now that I'm older, I always try to justify with myself and asked myself what am I afraid of. Sometimes, I think up of scenarios to justify when I'm outside here alone so that if I bumped into familiar faces, I can answer. It's stupid, I mean, nobody seriously care why you are outside alone. It's still a struggle for me, but I know I'm improving. At least I no longer hide myself in toilets these days.

 

Absolutely. I don't know if it's SA or OCD, but I always feel like people are looking at me, and my vision is much "clearer" and I feel like the whole world is watching me. I always get a fight or flight response when a person walks by, whether it's a girl, guy, or child, and I get obsessive, intrusive thoughts. I feel like my mind is on overdrive.

Often I feel very aggressive for no rational reason, and feel like a psychopath or something. People look at me like I want to fight them. It's like my mind and emotions/thoughts have taken control of me. It has totally drained me of all confidence.

Does anyone else experience this?

I was told by my new psychiatrist that it's anxiety and obessive thoughts, whereas my previous psychiatrists told me it's symptoms of Bipolar - mania/hypomania.

 

yes and thats why I only walk the streets at night.....during the day I can be found walking secluded trails in the forest.

 

I have suffered with this problem and then some since gaining weight through depression when I lost my job. And in effect I have not had a night out in over 3 years, have turned down house partys and only hang around with my mate at my house where I still dont feel comfortable around him unless I have my jacket on. For some reason I feel like people cant see how overweight I am when I have my jacket on. Its like a safety bubble or something.

 

Yeah, I have struggled with this for years and I still feel uncomfortable walking outside. One thing I have started doing more lately when walking past people is making eye contact with them. I'll throw them a friendly glance, maybe two if they look friendly. I used to be terrified to look directly at people when passing them. However, I've found that people often appear pretty nice and have kind expressions on their faces when looking at me. It makes being out in public less intimidating and I feel a little better about it every time I make eye contact with someone, especially when people smile at me or ask "how are you doing?" I've also found that many people don't look at others when passing them. I often look at people who are heading in my direction thinking that they're looking at me, too. In actuality, they stare to the side, towards the ground, straight ahead, or at their phones, but not at me. Who knows? Perhaps they are uncomfortable walking around in public too. Some people just hide that discomfort better than others. Us folks with SA tend to jump to conclusions about what other people (even strangers) think of us, but we are not inside their heads. I think that's the key thing to remember.

 

I use to have this issue back when I was in school (I'm a big girl and I thought they were secretly making fun of me in their heads), and I started dying my hair. I started getting compliments on my hair which kind of retrained my brain into thinking "Well, they could be saying 'your hair is awesome' in their head". I'm back in college and with a boyfriend who constantly says "I hate when people stare at you", I'm beginning to notice it again. I have to have normal hair now too because of class reasons, so I can't use that technique anymore. I'm searching for some new ways to switch off noticing that now, but if you are able, you could always try the dye solution. A few suggestions if you do though: Use semi-permanant so you're not stuck with a color you don't like and have the theory backfire, and mix it up with whatever crazy colors you'd like. I've done blue, teal, pink, purple, and red (my personal favorite is red). I always mention to people I like their hair if it's a vibrant color.

 

I feel targeted by judgmental stares. Also, I'm a klutz and sometimes tumble down streets. Embarrassing. Driving's worse.

 

Yes. Just...yes. :afr

 

I just walk fast and try to avoid eye contact with everyone. If I accidentally catch someone's eye, I just give a small smile and keep walking. I'm usually so in my own head that I can't hear if anyone is calling out for me and if someone I don't know calls out to me, I ignore them.

If I klutz it up, I just laugh, look to see if anyone else saw and laugh with them because that seems to be what everyone else does. If you don't I've noticed it looks more awkward.