“Nobody thinks about you that much… And everybody is thinking all the time about how weird it is that you’re always thinking about it.”

As the other person already suggested. Reminding myself how little i care about what others do is rather helpful in reducing anxiety over the long term. It still does sometimes get to me as it’s irrational, but i can handle it

I guess I’m just built different because “no-one actually cares about you enough to notice your social failings” doesn’t actually make me feel any better. I think about other people a lot, and the thought that that’s asymmetrical is wildly depressing.

Yeah, because you’re withdrawing from society because of social anxiety.

as someone who presents as a very large dude, people actually do notice my anxiety 😮‍💨

I try to tell this to my kids. “When was the last time you cared when someone did X?” They aren’t going to care either.

I normally try to remember this but whenever I put it into practice I’m immediately reminded that yes, yes they are thinking about me that much.

I tend to be a very polarizing person. People either love me or hate me. As a result I’m constantly having to deal with other people’s preconceived judgements about me and if I don’t meticulously dance around the line between the two my whole life falls apart.

It also doesn’t help that I look like I’d murder a puppy in front of a child for fun so that’s cool too.

You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.