Audrey,

Sometimes people get jealous when someone gets promoted. They just do, even if they really do like you. You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. I know it hurts to feel like people don't like you though. I hate feeling that way too.

You don't have to act happy all the time, and you don't have to give out explanations to everyone who asks either. What could you tell them instead? "I just don't feel like talking about it right now," or "I need to stop dwelling on it and this just isn't helping me?" I don't know - you can probably think of something better. Reliving your problems over and over really doesn't help. But if people ask, they are probably trying to show concern. Maybe just tell them thanks for asking. And when they don't ask, maybe they are being sensitive and have picked up on that it isn't good for you to rehash it.

Your problems are not frivolous - what you wrote shows that you have some of the classic thinking patterns associated with depression. You might want to look into cognitive therapy, which would help you to recognize these patterns and correct them.

<font color=orange>"They accused us of suppressing freedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it." ... from the Director of Censorship...

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