I have extremely low self esteem and I'm extremely paranoid. I actually progressively become more uncomfortable with people as time because of my paranoia. Psych told me that exposure therapy is used to treat anxiety but I don't feel that is applicable to me.
At first I alienate them due to avoiding them because I think I'm a worthless person who automatically repels people so I try to stay out of their way, but they interpret this as me implying that I think they're worthless or lepers and that I'm better than them.
I don't reciprocate friendliness or conversations/banter because I think people are talking down to me, or are otherwise fucking around with me and playing a game which reminds me of how much of an inferior person I am , or I feel like I'm under attack.
In many cases I will interpret friendly overtures as condescension or outright hostility depending on the person and the vibes I get off them. Not always but a very large percentage of the time.
With time people get uncomfortable and sometimes hostile towards me, and this only fuels my paranoia even more by validating my original beliefs about their malicious intents, so I end up in a spiral of escalating tensions between me and other people that cause me to freak out and feel persecuted. People in turn view me as a weirdo or like I'm up to no good/shifty so they genuinely do start persecuting or harassing me.
Exposure therapy in this case doesn't work. How abnormal is this and is there a way to make these kinds of thoughts go away?
No one in this world cares about you enough to hate you or mess with you. Bullying stops at after high school because people just find better things to do. It's all in your head man.
>>17371935
I swear that's pretty normal. You just have bad anxiety.
Personal experience, the best ways to handle that:
>surround yourself with positive people
I can't stress enough how important that is. Positive reinforcement that you're fine when you're freaking out really helps.
>calming routine
>self motivation
YOU. ALSO. HAVE. TO. WORK. ON. IT. You need to make an effort to get into a routine of calming yourself down when you're feeling anxious by keeping in mind that nothing is wrong with you and things will be fine.