Started a new level of education, got new friends, went to parties everything is going great except I have trouble connecting to people and feels left out. It feels like no one actually likes me and that im a fake person. Their just pretending to want to be around me. I cant tell if this is a delusion or reality. It feels like everything is going to get ruined like it always does. (for context: i was bullied as child and didnt have any friends, only a small number of my friendships have (1/2)
been non-toxic and have lasted more than 8 months, ive had a lot of people i know and very few close friends, i had bad social anxiety in the 7th grade bc of the feelings described in the first part but it got better, bc of drama and school i started feeling severly depressed and had breakdowns almost daily, ive had body image issues and disordered eating as a result of the bullying, i have adhd (which i take medication for)) I just wish I could be closer to people but i feel like i dont (2/3)
deserve love and support. My family has never been abusive but never supportive either. In my opinion (and my parents) i really need psychotherapy. Talking to friends always makes me feel better but even when they respond I just KNOW that they dont actually care i cant approach people bc they dont care. I cant get support bc in my mind everything is filtered through a lens of “no one likes u no one cares ur disgusting” it feels true to me but people say that it isnt. Is this a delusion?
*Edit: Because we are not professionals, we can’t say whether it is a delusion or not. If you would like to figure out if this viewpoint is a delusion or not, please speak with a professional.
I’m sorry that you are feeling so isolated. I am unsure if this would qualify as a delusion or if it is something closer to an intrusive thought. While it can be easy to believe that no one cares if you aren’t receiving support from family or were bullied, everyone deserves love and support. Even though your mind may be telling you otherwise right now, try and remember this to help argue against what your mind is saying.
Feeling left out or that you are on the outside of relationships because you feel as if they don’t care can be incredibly difficult to go through. It does take work to feel more comfortable in relationships. With that in mind, if you have friends responding to you when you talk to them about things, they are putting in effort. This may be a good way to notice that someone else does care if they are taking the time to respond.
It may be difficult to get yourself to psychotherapy with this kind of mindset telling you that you don’t deserve it, but you deserve the help you believe you need and therapists are there to help you out. I have resources here from our Helpful Resources Page that I hope will help you in place of psychotherapy for right now and that they will help you begin getting better from where you are right now.
General techniques & posts
This post lists 10 tips on how to work through feelings of social isolation.
You Feel Like Shit – An Interactive Self Care Guide helps you work through bad episodes and takes you through things that might be wrong
Anxiety and Panic-Related Symptoms
Help Guide, a site containing articles to help understand, help numbers, “tool kits”, and self help.
Mental Support Community, a forum to talk about anxiety disorders and how they affect your life.
Mental Help, a site that has basic information, resources, articles, and a list of books that might be helpful.
Here is also an article on social anxiety disorder self help tips.
Anxiety management techniques
Depression, Dysthymia, and Depressive Symptoms
Help Guide, a site containing articles to help understand, help numbers, “tool kits”, and self help.
Mental Support Community, a forum to talk about regular unipolar forms of depression and how it affects your life.
Mental Help, a site that has basic information, resources, articles, and a list of books that might be helpful.
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
The black dog institute has some great resources for depression and bipolar disorder.
This is a link to a great workbook you can do to teach you about coping with depression.
Teen version of HelpGuide for depression
WebMD has some natural ways of coping with depression
Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
Help Guide, a site containing articles to help understand, help numbers, “tool kits”, and self help.
Mental Support Community, a forum to talk about eating disorders and how it affects your life.
Mental Help, a site that has basic information, resources, articles, and a list of books that might be helpful.
The addiction help center has lots of resources that explain eating disorders, their treatment, and much more.
Kati Morton, a therapist, makes weekly videos about various aspects of living with an eating disorder and coping strategies you can use.
Something Fishy is a website that provides information on eating disorders and places to find treatment, as well as forums for people with eating disorders and friends/family members.
Ways of coping with eating disordered behaviors
HelpGuide on eating disorder treatment and recovery
NEDA has a wonderful guide on body image, as well as many amazing links.
We have more resources on our Helpful Resources Page if you’d like to take a look at some other topics as well. I hope this helps you out at least a little bit anon!
Best of luck to you, and feel free to message us again any time.
