Unfortunately, what we fear we make ourselves more vulnerable to by doing so; consider that in the movie Conspiracy Theory, Mel Gibson's character having already garnered a reputation for being paranoid and delusional, and almost visibly embodying those qualities, is unable to get help once he finds himself is in a real situation that he can't effectively communicate to others. I think this is a good portrait of the struggle that often occurs for us internally, when we don't know whether to believe our own perceptions, in situations that are emotionally charged for us.

When I find myself struggling to differentiate the effects of my own mental filters with a situation itself, I write down on paper what the observable "evidence" I've noticed, and try to do so without emotion. (Sometimes this takes a bit of editing, to remove the emotion. Limiting use of subjective adjectives and subjectively worded adverbs can help.) Just looking at the information plainly like that might provide some insight in itself. But you might consider calling someone who both knows you and has worked successfully in a similar working climate (be it corporate, family business, or whatever). If you work at a big company, and know someone familiar with the company's specific culture (but not someone you work with directly who would not be able to be objective, or could cause a mishap by accidentally saying something that got to the wrong person), that could be especially helpful.

When I do this, I use my notes to run it by him or her, again being as clinical as I can about it, not adding to what I've written (though it might be a good idea in any event to remind the person that it's possible some emotion could creep in). In my experience, people tend to be glad for an opportunity to put this kind of cultural knowledge to use, in order to be able to help others.

Your results may vary, but this has been helpful to me.