[helloiamjim]

I hear people say things to or about me and I'm like whoa did he really say that. They're mean things that I did nothing to provoke. It could be as simple as someone saying "airhead" or "fatso" or (insert racist word). One time I was on Zoom and thought I heard the guy's wife saying "Are you on the phone with that fool again"?

These words really hurt like daggers in my heart. They cause a great deal of anxiety. I feel like if I pop an antianxiety med each time this happens, I'll run out of meds. Plus that's not a good way to deal with it.

In some cases, people probably aren't saying these things. That still doesn't ease the hurt. I just want the words to stop.

Does anyone go through this and if so, have you done anything that helps? I've talked in therapy about it but that doesn't seem to work.

[Mountaindewed]

Yeah I had that issue at my last job with a couple coworkers and the supervisor. They would like make jokes that would secretly be insults and just be rude. They would be so subliminal with their insults I couldn’t tell if I was imaging things or not. Although I know a lot of it really did go on. They eventually all left and by the time I left work in June due to Covid I had a good spot and everyone was really nice. Those few months were brutal I actually had to switch shifts because of one girl.

Most of the time people are just assholes who have issues of their own and feel bad about themselves so they want to make others feel bad too. Low self esteem. But it does hurt.

For me I had to just keep pushing until things got better. I got really involved in this TV show that I’d binge watch when I came home. Being distracted helped a lot.

[mountainstream]

They feel bad about themselves. They want to wound us.

[Buffy01]

Originally Posted by helloiamjim

I hear people say things to or about me and I'm like whoa did he really say that. They're mean things that I did nothing to provoke. It could be as simple as someone saying "airhead" or "fatso" or (insert racist word). One time I was on Zoom and thought I heard the guy's wife saying "Are you on the phone with that fool again"?

These words really hurt like daggers in my heart. They cause a great deal of anxiety. I feel like if I pop an antianxiety med each time this happens, I'll run out of meds. Plus that's not a good way to deal with it.

In some cases, people probably aren't saying these things. That still doesn't ease the hurt. I just want the words to stop.

Does anyone go through this and if so, have you done anything that helps? I've talked in therapy about it but that doesn't seem to work.

I had this happen to me plenty of time.

[helloiamjim]

It sounds like you're all saying people are probably saying these things and it's not my imagination. Whoa. I don't know if that's good or bad. I hate to think that most people are really jerks.

[mountainstream]

A lot of people are jerks. Some are not... I doubt if you're imagining this.