Lately, I've been visiting a lot of forums where people talk about whatever - just normal, everyday stuff mostly, and I've become really disheartened and have been feeling really down after seeing how mean people are to each other Like, they constantly shame one another for thinking or feeling a certain way or for making mistakes in, for instance, parenting or any area of life, really.. Every message is a dig at someone else, they call people they've never met names, laugh at people.. This just makes me insanely anxious!

I myself have spent the last few years at home due to physical illness and social phobia, and now am thinking, GOD, I hope this isn't what it'll be like out there in the 'real' world..

Today, I thought I ought to do something about the anxiety I'm feeling, so I wondered, who's been mean to me? Why are these people getting to me so much?

I realised I feel my parents were 'mean' to me when I was growing up (later on as well) - that they 'didn't understand me'.. And it's true. They lack empathy and are indifferent. Somehow, I feel good about realising this.. This is why people being inconsiderate and downright awful to others gets to me. I feel now that I understand this, I can maybe just let people's mean comments go without feeling like I have to change that person.. I can't, only they can change themselves.. I guess the best tactic is to just remove myself from their company as much as I can.